NOWs: Untitled (Gülşen & Hüseyin) by Aykan Safoğlu

17 April 2016 / Nows

Aykan Safoǧlu, Excerpt of Untitled (Gülşen & Hüseyin), 2015

In the two-channel video installation Untitled (Gülşen & Hüseyin), 2015, Aykan Safoǧlu traces the life story of his uncle Hüseyin, who immigrated to Germany to join the growing workforce of Turkish workers there in the early 1960s. On one screen, Safoğlu is seen directing his friend Gülşen Aktaş to pose as his uncle, in a recreation of an early photograph. Gülşen, who lives in Berlin, is prompted by the artist to participate in an exercise designed to elicit empathy for the character she is playing. The Turkish-born artist, who also lives in Germany, is looking for insight. The second screen tells of the ups and downs of Hüseyin’s life as a cleaning person, in the form of scrawled statements and drawings on a bathroom wall. The intimacy of the juxtaposed storytelling modes relates to Safoğlu’s own search for alternative modes of survival to meet the challenges of maintaining his identity in the face of dislocation and sexual bias. With this piece, Safoğlu proves himself to be a nuanced storyteller, a capable historian for “otherness,” and a queerer of history. With this piece, Safoğlu proves himself to be a nuanced storyteller, a capable historian for “otherness,” and a queerer of history – reclaiming history, rewriting it – as he did with Off-White Tulips, 2013.

By Nicole O’Rourke

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The work is presented in the context of the exhibition Father Figures Are Hard To Find at nGbK Berlin on 17 April 2016, 5-7 pm. The artist Aykan Safoǧlu will be present for a screening, conversation and guided tour at 6 pm.

NOWs: Bumbu by Elise Eeraerts

27 April 2016 / Nows ⟶

NOWs: Bumbu (21:43 min) by Elise Eeraerts The video Bumbu by Elise Eeraerts has been produced in the context of Thread – Artist Residency & Cultural Center in Sinthian, a rural village in Tambacounda, Senegal, supported by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. The video Bumbu by Elise Eeraerts evolved through a participatory, collaborative process with local craftswomen in Sinthian, Senegal. A series of ceramic objects was jointly created. Segments of each object were partly made by the women and partly by the artist; thus each object has more than one creator. The word ‘bumbu’ means the “beginning” or “foundation” of a pot, often the bottom part, which is produced by use of a mould. Eeraerts initiated the ceramic series, introducing geometrical forms form her artistic repertoire. In the video the geometrical, modular forms of the moulded “foundation” parts made by the Eeraerts contrast with the craftwomen’s traditional forms and techniques, yet inspire the new objects that evolve throughout the dialogical work process. Elise Eerarts reflects: “Through the intensive collaboration process, we were actively involved with each other’s working habits and techniques. I could get a sense of various aspects during the making of the series. The video ‘bumbu’ shows the making of: from collecting materials in nature, such as earth, grass, dung, to processing the materials and shaping the objects. Towards the end of the film the younger generations appears more prominently in sequences that confront the previous framing of the traditional culture and crafts with digital media imagery that introduce another perspective to the present and the future of the rituals and life in the village’s culture.” — elise-eeraerts.be NOWs: Bumbu (21:43 min) by Elise Eeraerts The video Bumbu by Elise Eeraerts has been produced in the context of Thread – Artist Residency & Cultural Center in Sinthian, a rural village in Tambacounda, Senegal, supported by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. The video Bumbu by Elise Eeraerts evolved through a participatory, collaborative process with local craftswomen in Sinthian, Senegal. A series of ceramic objects was jointly created. Segments of each object were partly made by the women and partly by the artist; thus each object has more than one creator. The word ‘bumbu’ means the “beginning” or “foundation” of a pot, often the bottom part, which is produced by use of a mould. Eeraerts initiated the ceramic series, introducing geometrical forms form her artistic repertoire. In the video the geometrical, modular forms of the moulded “foundation” parts made by the Eeraerts contrast with the craftwomen’s traditional forms and techniques, yet inspire the new objects that evolve throughout the dialogical work process. Elise Eerarts reflects: “Through the intensive collaboration process, we were actively involved with each other’s working habits and techniques. I could get a sense of various aspects during the making of the series. The video ‘bumbu’ shows the making of: from collecting materials in nature, such as earth, grass, dung, to processing the materials and shaping the objects. Towards the end of the film the younger generations appears more prominently in sequences that confront the previous framing of the traditional culture and crafts with digital media imagery that introduce another perspective to the present and the future of the rituals and life in the village’s culture.” — elise-eeraerts.be

NOWs: Fire Pit (Blocks) by Elise Eeraerts

14 April - 12 May 2016 / Nows ⟶

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NOWs: Untitled (Gülşen & Hüseyin) by Aykan Safoğlu

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