Eden Ünlüata

Staff of Memories and Knowledge (2019)

Wood pole, found objects, fabric, and chalkboard paint.

Finding its inspiration in shamanic/wizardly talismanic staffs, this work references how we use memories and the knowledge we accumulate to support our journey through life. The seemingly random collection of objects and chalkboard paint on the staff reminds us how our memories often combine various events and knowledge to reflect on past experiences, and also to guide us through new ones.

Art Connects Exhibition (2019)

Am Shalom Synagogue, Glencoe, IL

Curated by Annie Holm and Olive Tree Arts Network

In many religious practices worshippers seek to connect with the Divine while often struggling to connect with fellow people. And when they do it is with people whom they share the same religious traditions with. They often ignore that a divine being is the creator of all people.

Many religious practices include objects, relics, and clothing as part of worship. Many of them share similar ideas like prayer shawls, from tallits in Judaism, to payer shawls in Christianity, to head scarfs in islam, to meditation shawls in Buddhism, and more.

For the Art Connects exhibition I made a prayer shawl from paper (36” x 36” when folded and placed on a custom hanger) with the inscriptions “You Are One of Us” and its poetic iterations. This prayer shawl was available for audiences to wear, and make a wish/pray for overcoming barriers of race, culture and social constructs to be able to establish real connections between communities.

West Chicago City Museum (2019-2020)

Curated bt Sara Phalen and Anni Holm

Affinity Train is an interactive installation made in response to Home exhibition. The work uses West Chicago’s history as a major intersection for train lines and as a place that welcomed many immigrant families as a jumping off point. I wanted to define ‘home’ as a place where your journey takes you and every encounter, every experience on the way acts as a building block. Many of its residents have travelled long distances to make West Chicago home, and trains continue to have a presence in everyday life.

This work uses a pre-made wood toy base, covered in cardboard, papier mache, and fabric. It is painted with chalkboard paint which affords writing/drawing on it. Each of the train cars are in the shape of a house, and contain little bells in them. The train cars are connected to each other and can be pulled around using the hook.

Audiences are invited to drag the work around with them in the gallery space as they view other works, and will be able to write/draw on it using chalk.

Ignition Project Space (2019)

Memory Forest is centered around the idea of memory, and the recall of memories. Each recall braids together memories of other experiences and references.

The main element of the installation is a series of ceiling hangings that are made from fabrics - discarded sheets and clothing etc. They are all braided and knotted together, with found object inclusions.

Throughout the “forest” there are augmented reality trackers. When scanned using Augment app, these trackers will lead audiences to digital objects, online games or online content which can be accessed through smartphones.

Solo Exhibition

Terrain Exhibitions, Curated by Sabina Ott (2017)

Interactive Installation: Bike, co-pilot extension, found objects, chalkboard paint, chalk, augmented reality (AR,) interactive poems, video. Please scan AR custom trackers to view digital content. 

Most of us collect objects as reminders and memory triggers of experiences, and often pair them with photographs or videos. The objects and the memories they trigger are important in how we see ourselves and how we develop our identities – personal or cultural. As the images and objects accumulate they also become part of the emotional (and physical) weight we carry.

As time goes on, memories become blurry and start to blend together. We start to establish common threads, and see themes among these experiences – even if these threads are not intentional. This creates not only a loss of clarity, but also allows the memories to be rewritten with each telling.

This interactive work, 'Round and Round With Memories,' is made up of a bike, a co-pilot extension, and a tail. Some parts are painted over with blackboard paint, and covered with various memento objects, which some of them are also painted with blackboard paint. The red painted “trackers” allow viewers to see additional objects, more ephemeral ones, through an augmented reality app.

Audiences are invited to ride the bike, write on the blackboard painted objects with chalk, and explore the ephemeral digital objects and word games. To view the digital objects please scan the trackers by using the free Augment app that can be downloaded from any app store.

2017 - Displacement & Migration Exhibition - St. Louis Artists Guild,

St. Louis, MO

2016 - Paraflows .XI Identity Exhibition - Vienna, Austria

2015 - Worn Articles Exhibition - Uptown Arts Center, Chicago, IL

Interactive Installation: Ink on paper, Konnyaku, Twine online games. Online games can be found here, here, and here. 

Talismanic shirts were often used by members of the Ottoman imperial court to protect them in battle, heal them in illness, and make wishes come true. These shirts, regularly made out of cotton, linen or silk, sometimes coated with materials to give the fabrics a paper-like quality, were worn underneath battle outfits or formal clothing at court. The shirts were filled with inscriptive texts and images. The texts contained verses from the Qur'an, names of holy people, magical formulas, encrypted text, and numerological charms.

As debates over immigration, refugees, and population mobility are taking center stage in the political arena of many western countries, an important discussion on identity is been left out. Though concerns about population mobility's affect on local cultures are highlighted in the media, how this is affecting the identity of newcomers is receiving little attention. Beyond facticity (sex, hair and eye color, skin color, body height, etc.) identity is deeply dependent on past experiences, present surroundings, and future anticipations. The challenge a newcomer faces is two fold. On one hand they have to establish a relationship to the community they join, on the other hand they face an internal struggle of understanding how their identity is reshaped by this new experience. As the person struggles to grow beyond these challenges, they often find themselves following a circular pattern in which they assess and reassess their place, their relevance, and how they fit within the community, often struggling to find the right gesture, the right word, the correct behavior.

The paper shirts presented here find their inspiration in historic talismanic shirts. Inscribed with various texts, and images, they are intended to magically guide the desires of acceptance across cultures, borders, and boundaries – real or imagined. The viewers are offered an insight into the circular patterns of assessment and reassessment of identity a newcomer experiences, and they provide imaginary magical means of settling these matters. Viewers are invited to wear the shirts, play online word games they can access via QR codes on the shirts; share in experiences of newcomers, reflect on their own, take selfies, and post them to social media sites using #talismanicShirts. 

Faculty Exhibition (2017)

Columbia College Chicago - Hokin Project Gallery

Paper, Found Objects, Augmented Reality

The vessels are made of paper and contain memento objects, though the objects cannot be seen as they are sealed inside of the vessel. Viewers have to shake the vessels to try and discover its contents. Further interaction is afforded through augmented reality which can accessed through a free app called Augment. (Further images to follow.)

Banner Project: Patterns, Patterns, Patterns (2016)

Curated by West Chicago City Museum, West Chicago, IL. 

The challenge a new comer faces is two fold. On one hand they have to establish a relationship to the community they join, on the other hand they have to face an internal struggle understanding how their identity will be shaped by this new experience. As the person struggles to grow beyond these challenges, they often find them following a circular pattern in which they assess and reassess their place, their relevance, and how they fit within the community, often struggling to find the right gesture, the right word, the correct behavior. 

This banner project reflects on this experience of a new comer. The sentences on the banners are not complete, leaving it to the viewer to complete them. With an online word game, which viewers can access through the QR code, the viewers are offered an insight into the circular patterns of assessment and reassessment of a new comer, while they are also given the opportunity to pick their own path through the word game. Please scan the QR code or go here to see the word game.
 

Chernobyl: Impact and Beyond Exhibition (2016)

Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL.

Curated by Robin Dluzen and Stanislav Grezdo.

Installation/Performance: Cathode Ray Tube TV's, Turkish Tea Set, Turkish Tea.

Tea is consumed in very large quantities in Turkey, and is often central to social interactions. During social gatherings it is common to be served tea grown in Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast. When the radioactive particles from Chernobyl arrived in the region, they literally rained on the tea crop that was about to be harvested, contaminating it. After the rain the contaminated tea was harvested, and sent to the market for human consumption. In the late spring/early summer of 1986, when the media started mentioning that the tea might have been contaminated, there was palpable panic among the Turkish public.

In order to calm the public, the Turkish government at the time put the Minister of Industry and Trade, Cahit Aral, on television, and had him drink tea from the same contaminated batch as a way to prove that the tea was safe for human consumption. In his banter with the media at the time, Mr. Aral, went as far as to say that the television sets people were watching were emanating more radiation than the tea could ever contain. For the following years the Turkish government continued to deny that the tea was unsafe for human consumption, while secretly burning large quantities of the contaminated batch, re-releasing the radioactive particles into the atmosphere.
 

Watercolor Show (2016)

Uptown Arts Center

Curated by Colette Wright Adams

Paper cups, watercolor.

Using Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine as a jumping off point, this interactive watercolor work creates an analogue circular logic game based on conditionals (if/Else statements.) The user tries to playfully navigate the statements by moving various parts, aligning the statements so that the they win. However, there are no "winning" statements!

Victory Garden Exhibition (2015)

Curated By Mel Potter

Papermaker's Garden, Columbia College Chicago

Terrain Biennial 2015

Interactive Installation: Sand, Sandals

During the Hellenistic period, people in the sex trade would often wear shoes with the words “follow me” embossed on the soles. As they walked the dusty streets the shoes would leave a print behind. This discreet marketing technique afforded them a medium to convey a message to a clientele that was better educated. 
…
The South Loop area of Chicago was once the epicenter of the sex trade in the city. Its proximity to the Loop, some industrial areas, transportation, and distance to the neighborhoods made it an ideal location for the trade to flourish. 
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During WW I, and WW II, food production, and distribution was refocused to help with the war efforts. To compensate for the loss in farm labor, and reduce the pressure on food distribution there were campaigns to promote hyper-local food production. Aptly called, Victory Gardens, they were also a way to keep everyone engaged in the war effort, and feel empowered.
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Contemporary food production, and corporate farming heavily relies on single-crop farming. This approach, though efficient in the short run, is posing new challenges to the environment. It diminishes bio-diversity, and the tips the scales of delicate eco-systems, damaging to both the environment, and food production in the long run.
… 
The Papermaker's Garden, located at Columbia College Chicago's campus, is a delightful example of how we can counter some of the food, and environmental challenges we are facing today. Located in a middle of the dense urban neighborhood, South Loop, on a piece of land that was land-banked, it provides a powerful example for food, and raw material (for paper) production that is hyper-local. It inspires us to look at our own surroundings to see how we can do our own share in reducing the pressures on the environment. 
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For the Terrain Biennial at the Papermaker's Garden, I made an interactive piece that consists of pair of crude shoes with words "Walk In Our Shoes" embossed on the bottoms of them using upholstery nails. These shoes affords the participants to strap them over their regular street shoes. Once strapped on, the viewers walks down a path made from sand that is poured over the ground gravel. #walkInOurShoesToday

Be Mine Exhibition (2015)

Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, IL

Curated by Niki Nolin, Pate Conway, and Judith Hladik-Voss

Interactive Installation: Found Objects, Red Chalkboard Paint

STATEMENT

This interactive installation invites the viewer to arrange an assortment of small objects related to the theme of the show, contained in a wood box (14” x 5” x 5”,) to create a visual poem. The box sits on a shelf, and some of the objects are painted with pink chalkboard paint, affording the viewer to draw and write on them with chalk. The work invites the viewers to take pictures of their arrangements, post them to social media sites with comments using a hashtag #beMinePoems

I AMerican Exhibition (2014-2019)

Curated by Sergio Gomez

The exhibition has travelled to Water Street Studios Gallery, Batavia, IL (2014); White Ripple Gallery, Hammond, IN (2014); Governors State University Galleries, University Park, IL (2014); Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago, IL (2015); Dordt College, Sioux Center, IA (2015); North Central College Galleries, Naperville, IL (2016); Argonne National Laboratory Gallery, Lemont, IL (2017.)

Interactive Installation: Found Objects, Chalkboard Paint, Chalk.

With Memory Markers, I am investigating the relationship between 'story' and 'home' through my own experiences. It tells my story of finding home through a cross-cultural quest in a non-narrative way. Memory Markers consist of objects that are mementos, toys, found objects, boxes, random items, and tchotchkes we keep to remind us of stories, travels, moments in life. They have been painted over with blackboard paint which simultaneously blurs personal history, while maintaining the object quality, and at the same time allows the viewer to rewrite the story associated with the object, through simply imagining or by literally writing on them. These objects, while telling my story, also offers other people an opportunity to reflect on your own story. In each case, even though the appropriated content is visible, combined into a new context they generate a new meaning, tell a new story.

Tarot Exhibition

Uptown Arts Center

Curated By Colette Wright Adams

Ink On Paper

This shirt is based on the Tarot card Death. The interaction affords the person to embody the message of the death card. 

(Bi)Cycle Exhibition (2014)

West Chicago City Museum, West Chicago, IL

Curated by Sara Phalen and Anni Holm

For the (Bi)Cycle of Life exhibition I showed an installation piece that investigates the
mental journey a person takes when moving from a place to another. Though the physical journey
might be a relatively straightforward, going from point A to point B, using a transportation system such a plane, a train, or an automobile, the mental journey is a lot less direct, perhaps more akin to a spiral path. Past memories, people left behind, doubts about the decision to relocate, etc. plays like a broken record in a persons head again and again. But with every motion forward another piece of the memory is forgotten, morphs into something new, and is written over by new experiences and stories, though the path allows one to face the memory again and again as they slowly spiral away. 

Bikes are very flexible transportation vehicles, yet their capacity in many areas is limited. Traveling with long distances them is difficult, and carrying things on them even more so, especially over long distances. Yet they can are not bound by limitations of planes, trains, or automobiles. They can follow more complex paths, less bound by regulations, can change direction fast, and offer more flexibility in navigating difficult terrain, physical or mental. They are better in reflecting the whim, curiosities, and choices of their riders. The City of West Chicago provides the perfect back drop for this difference as a junction town of planes, trains, automobiles, and bikes. 

'Round and Round,' constitute of a bike, painted over with blackboard paint, and covered with various memento objects, also painted with blackboard paint. Some of the painted objects are be placed on the path of the bike, trailing it, indicating that it is following a path. While the objects that imply that they have fallen off of the bike give the appearance to have been left behind, the spiral trajectory of the bike affords remembering, recalling the objects and the memories they represent again and again. Only, each time the path crosses a the same it is a little more distant, there are more objects, and the view is from a different perspective. Spectators are allowed to use chalk to write words, or simply draw on the objects and the bike.
 

FluxBox Exhibition (2014)

Joan Flasch Artistbook Library - School of the Art Institute Chicago Chicago, IL.

Curated by Keith A. Buchholz

An interactive poetry box, presented as part of Flux Fest 2014

Be Mine Exhibition (2014)

Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, IL.

Curated by Niki Nolin, Pate Conaway, and Judith Hladik-Voss

Talismanic shirts were often used by members of the Ottoman imperial court to protect them in battle, heal them in illness, and make wishes come true. These shirts, regularly made out of cotton or silk paper, were worn underneath battle outfits or daily clothing worn at court. The shirts were filled with inscriptive texts and images. The texts contained verses from the Qur'an, names of holy people, magical formulas, encrypted text, and numerological charms. The images were either abstract forms with holy connotations (star of David, crescent moon, etc.) or representational figures (people, trees, etc.) referring to the reason the shirt was made. Please see enclosed examples marked “talismanic shirt example,” and “talismanic shirt detail.”

For Be Mine exhibition, I made a paper shirt that finds its inspiration in these old talismanic shirts. This shirt, presented on a clothes hanger, hang on a wall, implies that it is ready to be worn for courting love. But, it will also implies that the expression of love in contemporary culture has become mostly commercialized, and the magic has been reduced to the surplus it generates.

The shirt is inscribed with various text, images, popular culture icons that refer to Valentines day and the industry of love – such as cupids, hearts, roses, candy, chocolates, famous love phrases, love song lyrics, love prayers, love related text written in binary code, and more.
 

FluxJob Exhibition (2014)

Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN.

Curated by Keith A. Buchholz and Jeff Rathermel

Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) presented an exhibition that will featured contemporary artists working in the spirit of Fluxus. 

In the 1960s, George Maciunas urged a small group of artists to purge the world of bourgeois sickness and dead art. The result was Fluxus, a non-movement that expanded the definitions of what art can be. Fluxjob will be an exploration of contemporary artists who continue to create interdisciplinary anti-art that is ephemeral, inexpensive, and interactive. 

For the exhibition I presented 2 carved books, Doors: Montreal and Doors: Chicago. The accompanying sound piece for Doors: Chicago can be found here.

Where History and Progress Meet Exhibition (2013)

West Chicago City Museum

Curated by Sara Phalen and Anni Holm

Art Spot Box (2018)

Curated by Colette Adam Wright

The City of West Chicago developed with the advent of trains. As the City grew, from a small town named Junction, to become the City of West Chicago, different modes of transportation also arrived. Today, West Chicago is the junction of planes, trains and automobiles. Throughout its history the mobility afforded by these modes of transportation also brought many people from many parts of the world, making it a welcoming place for newcomers. 

When an immigrant arrives at a new place, the experiences and stories of their old country are still fresh, and the world is seen through the lenses of the former culture. However, adapting to a new country shifts one’s identity. The new experiences and new stories reshape the individual and collective identities. 

The new immigrant’s identity mirrored the changes the City of West Chicago faced. As it searched for its place in the broader region, it shifted its identity starting with the name Junction, in direct reference to the train junction, to later become Turner (also referred to as Turner-Junction) and then finally to become the City of West Chicago, looking to market itself as a more metropolitan place.

An immigrant’s identity is shaped by their story just as a town’s identity is shaped by its story tellers. After all, you are the stories you tell. New stories become as much a part of your identity as you old ones. But in the story-telling process, old stories become less clear, less sharp. Old stories from the old country are like old storybooks, where the binding no longer holds together tightly, the pages might be mixed up, pages molded, the writing smudged, the paper disintegrated, pages fused together... 

For the show at West Chicago City Museum titled “Where History and Progress Meet” I presented a project that worked from the idea of memory containers. These containers, made from pulped paper, have inclusions (object and image) in them, telling non-narrative stories of the past that are partly concealed. These containers were placed in a suitcase and have a soundscape accompany the installation. The soundscape can be found here.

Genocide Exhibition (2013)

Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago

Curated By Stanislav Grezdo

Coined by combining the Greek word genos (race, people) and the Latin word cīdere (to kill) [1], the word genocide implies a deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group [2]. However, motivations for genocide can be traced to the core narratives of nations and their desire to act on them as way of defining their national identity. 

But, when does a genocide get labeled “act of war” and evades being called genocide? When can a nation get away with genocide and never have to justify its acts? If the victor deliberately acts with intent to destroy a nation in whole or in part, is that still genocide? Or does the victor get to write history and ignore the label genocide? 

The years leading up to the second world war and the war itself brought out the worst in humanity; the holocaust, the Nanking massacre, the Holodomor genocide, the use of atomic weapons, and much more. Though most of these atrocities have become stains on the perpetrating nations, we Americans have been able to evade the responsibility of deliberately and systematically destroying Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs. Often hiding behind unsubstantiated claims of saving lives, we have justified the eradication of 2 cities and their populations.  

At one in point of our history we declared that we will never be defeated, will never lose a war [3]. This idea has become the core of our national identity. Using our technological and industrial advantage we have employed weapons such as atomic bombs to achieve our ultimate goal of never being defeated. For these ends we have employed means that go against the grain of how we see ourselves, as kind, caring, and compassionate people. 

For the Genocide exhibition, I am presented a project titled What Was It?, that invites spectators to question our atomic legacy and contrast it against our national identity as compassionate, loving people. By juxtaposing a “clean” environment – white walls, defined floors, good lighting, etc. - against objects that have been altered, looking ghostly I highlighted the conflicting values, inviting viewers to contemplate. The altered objects are from daily life and tell simple stories, such as chairs, folded clothes, shoes, paintings, accompanied by shadows of people that have vanished, turning into shadows the same way that happened in Hiroshima. 

1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide

2- http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genocide

3- http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/01/the-real-cuban-missile-crisis/309190/

Hidden Poems (2013)

ENACT exhibition - Art In the Mind Catalogue

Curated by Nanette Yannuzzi and Ann Torke

Works Can be viewed at
http://enact-artinthemind.com/

Finding Home: A Cabinet of Curiosity (2012)

Solo Exhibition

You are the stories you tell, and the spaces these stories take place help you articulate the idea of 'home.' Home is where you belong, a reference point and a place where you come back to reflect, understand and re-tell stories. However, 'home' does not have to be a static location, it may move, shift and change; your childhood home may not be the place you can access when you become an adult; the place you called home may not look the same when you move to a new place...

My background story is a complex and tangled one. Where I am from and where my roots are have never been easy questions to answer. I was not born and raised in Chicago, my family is not from here. However, I am a Chicagoan by choice, I now consider Chicago home. But, besides Chicago, the stories that define me are embedded in many other places such as Istanbul and Paris, spiced by stories from Edinburgh, Montreal, London, Key West and many other locations. Each one of these places have shaped my story, defined me, helped me understand who I am, and understand where my home is. At the same time I am part of the story of these places, however fleeting it may be. 

With this exhibition I am investigating the relationship between 'story' and 'home' through my own experiences. This curiosity cabinet, while telling my story, also offers you an opportunity to reflect on your own story. With this work I came to understand and accept that Chicago is home. Though my experiences are what can visibly be seen, your interpretation, your reflection and sharing is what enriches them.

434 Guns Exhibition (2012)

South Chicago Art Center, Pilsen Gallery

343 Chicago Public School students were shot during the school year ending in June of 2012. 
During the month of October 2012, Chicago Artist Month, the The South Chicago Art Center was in a gallery space in the Pilsen neighborhood presenting a window piece that spoke out against gun violence.

Performance Series with Hanh Do Pham

Pretty Dirty is a performance series that approaches people while they are attending a neighborhood festival/event - on the street – to playfully inspire them to reduce and repurpose waste.

A team of artists creates a dress, on the spot, using garbage collected from neighborhood trash cans.  As the team brings the dress to life from trash can to trash can, Hanh Pham talks to the public about the waste they generate in their daily lives and helps them brainstorm ways to creatively repurpose.

Past performances include Andersonville Arts Walk, Renegade Craft Fair, and Ravenswoods Arts Weekend, and Out of Site performance series.

Art Loop Open (2010)

Curated by Chicago Artists' Coalition & Chicago Loop Alliance

Block 37

Collaboration with Hale Ekinci

Mihrab is a collaborative video installation that points to the parallel nature of material and spiritual realms in the contemporary context, where the omnipresence of consumerism and religion, accompanied by their oppressive nature has become almost impossible to separate. In order to depict this, we are using digital means that simulate the experience of spirituality, where the line between material and intangible has become permeable. 

In Islam, one seeking a connection with the spiritual realm turns towards a 'mihrab' to pray in a mosque, which is in the shape of a door but is essentially a decoration alluding to a door through which spiritual fulfillment will take place, where the mind travels through to the spiritual realm (1). However, the door in its material form always remains closed. In order to reach this realm, one performs namaz (a performative prayer ritual) on pray mat five times a day. 

In the contemporary context, consumerism has become a way to experience both the material and quasi-spiritual worlds to achieve fulfillment. The connection an individual has to the realms of material or spiritual has been reduced to rituals of consumerism. This is highly emblematic in the American car culture. In this installation-performance, a garage door opens, alludes to the car beginning its journey to a purchase, a light shines and produces the illusion of connection to an outside world, the gateway to consumer experience of the average American. Every performance of this ritual delivers a fleeting satisfaction, that in reality is consumerism's oppression, which adopts the tactics of religious thought control. Only now, the door opens but the access to the spiritual remains elusive, just as in the experience of the mihrab.

Mihrab is composed of three video projections, a pray mat and surround sound. We project an image of a garage door closed that opens randomly. The image of the garage door is accompanied by two other videos of human silhouettes projected on two sidewalls. These full-bodied figures perform namaz (Islamic prayer ritual) in a non-synchronized fashion. The images are projected at the same level as the pray mat that is present in the space. In the background, one would be able to hear the whispering sounds of the prayers, along with the sounds created by their movements. In addition to these visceral sounds, some decipherable English words expressing desire and wish will be inserted at certain points in time. We also have a live performance to accompany the piece. 

1- http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-050599-103655/unrestricted/ch16.pdf

How We Make Each Other' Project Exhibition (2010)

The Arts Of Life Gallery

Collaboration with Alex Scott

Alex and I met when The Arts of Life group invited me to participate in their 'How we make each other' project. When I asked, among their members, who would be most interested in working with words, I was told that Alex would be. 

Alex and I share a great interest in words. For both of us they are inspiration in our artwork. So we decided to make a 'word portrait' of each other. We met a couple of times and talked about things that are important in our lives such as places, people, memories etc. From these conversations we each picked 10 words to make a portrait of each other. We picked up two dictionaries and used them to make the portraits by physically altering them. These portraits seamlessly mix visual arts with word-base art and offer a glimpse into the wonderful conversations we had. 

Identity: Mapping Connections Exhibition (2010)

Work-Studio Gallery

Collaboration with Don Widmer

How we treat sick people speaks of us as a society...

Relief Valve/Subap Exhibition (2010)

New Agrarian Center and Oberlin College - George Jones Farm

Curated by Nanette Yannuzzi and Arzu Özkal

In Turkish culture food carries the messages of welcome, love, caring, family, friendship, heritage, and many more... It is over food that important matters are discussed, intimate details shared. As a nation that can feed itself it is also a source of national pride. However all these are readily compromised when short term financial interest over powers the sustainability of the food chain. Similar to the short sighted use of coal to heat homes (while natural gas is an available option – though expensive) that delivers heavily polluted air, there have been many policies and practices of replacing farmland along with natural environment with ill-planned developments that are threatening the quality and quantity of the food produced. 

Though the short term gains might deliver monetary joys high up in the clouds, shish kebabing the environment for short term gain is damaging important components that define Turkish culture. These short term gains threaten to compromise not only the ability of the country to feed itself but also presents a threat to the social fabric by compromising one of its fundamental building blocks. 

This installation titled 'Shish Kebab' calls attention to the consequences of ignoring the relationship between the three ecologies Guattari defines. Though everything might appear orderly, the clouds have been put on a shish kebab readied to be consumed, the crescent and star now stands polluted, and all that has been held dear has been reduced to a cartoon image of itself. 

The piece consists of a wall that is painted glossy black with wooden shish kebab spikes inserted. The spikes are lined with fluffed cotton balls resembling clouds. Together they form the shape of a cartoon cloud outline with a Turkish flag in the center.

Performance (2010)

PROP THRT

A faceless sculpture offers state repression and reminds everyone to be a good citizen!

Seated Stories Exhibition (2009)

Little Black Pearl Gallery

Hyde Park Hair Salon

Some of the most disturbing discoveries at Hiroshima’s ground zero were the shadow-like impressions of ordinary people going about their daily life left on building walls from the heat of the explosion. Immortalized in their shadows, these people bear witness to the destructive power of one of the most morally questionable weapons ever developed. 

Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood with all of its institutions has incubated some of the most significant events of the last 150 years, from the World’s Columbia Exhibition, to the development of the nuclear technology, to Barack Obama. By turning the birthplace of the first atomic reaction into a mirror, the morality of the weapon’s existence is again called into question. 

As President Obama has expressed his desire to rid the world of these weapons I invite you to imagine what a moment in history might look like in a Hyde Park institution (Hyde Park Hair Salon) after the dust had settled from a weapon that was developed by another. 

The Seated Story Exhibition (2009)

Galaxie Art Venue - Chicago, IL

Clothing, paint, wallpaper glue and corn starch on found chairs. 

This piece intends to capture a moment that hasn’t happened, an imaginary moment where serene daily activity has been interrupted with the explosion of an atomic weapon. After having folded clothes and placed them on a ‘grandma’ chair, the person no longer exists. 

Following a serene moment captured with the chair and folded laundry, comes a moment when the weapon devastates. As the devastation referenced has not really taken place in present time the setting acts a ‘ghost’ formed to speak of what might happen. 

The use of the chair, the act of laundry folding and the serenity associated draws its inspiration from the Western genre of painting called ‘Still Life’. Some of the painters intended to capture peaceful moments of daily life among a rather chaotic setting. 

The material that covers the chair and the folded laundry takes its inspiration from burnt and ash covered clothing. They intend to represent the ghosts of the victims of atomic weapons, ghosts that come to warn not haunt. 

By capturing a moment that most people would deem serene, making it ever so similar to one’s own surrounding and layering it with an ever-present threat I intend to highlight the ethical questions concerning ownership of atomic/nuclear weapons. In simpler terms, who has the right to own and use these weapons? 

Contemplating Body Exhibition (2009)

Columbia College Chicago, Temporary Gallery - Chicago, IL

Found toys, mannequins, found clothing, old clothing, paint, wallpaper glue and corn starch.

Nuclear weapons with their overwhelming and indiscriminating powers of destruction presents a moral deficit that has existed since their conception. They offer no gray zones, not even white ones. Many scientist that worked on the development of these weapons later expressed regret for their contributions. However, the political and military establishment has not expressed such regrets, contrary they have used these weapons as means to political ends. These weapons should not be tools for strategic or tactical positioning, they should not be tools of politics, they are not toys, for the damage they could inflict and the human cost is too great. 

As one follows the discussions on nuclear proliferation on the international scene, one sees that the dangers these weapons present are ignored, as the matter is reduced to a political power games and the discussion is further cheapened with the silly statements of who deserves to posses them or who's hands they need to be kept out of. While some countries are allowed to keep their current arsenal and others are not pressured to acknowledge the existence of theirs, some parties are considered ineligible to obtain them. This enhances the moral deficit by adding hypocrisy to the mix. 

This installation piece titled 'This is Not A Toy' point to the childish nature of the current discourse on nuclear proliferation, while pointing to dangers it presents for the future generations. The boy and the girl are in cute, innocent outfits playing with toys. There are other toys sitting around offering them other options. This happy setting at first glance is offset when one notices the toys they are both playing with are scaled models of Little Boy*. 

*Little Boy is the nick name of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. 
 

Fight or Flight Exhibition (2009)

XIII Pockets Productions/Heart of Gold Gallery - Chicago, IL

Clothing, paint, wallpaper glue and corn starch.

The animal instinct reactions referred to as ‘fight or flight’ are short sighted in their nature and do not intend to deliver long term solutions. Though fear is the common element in both reactions, fighting is the one that creates a cyclical feeding relation with fear. Fear acts as a compass to reactions that lead to fighting and the additional fear generated leads to further fighting making the process cyclical. 

Fear acted as a compass in the decision to unleash one of the most morally controversial weapons. On August 6th, 1945 the first atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Since then, the use of an atomic/nuclear bomb on American soil has become the center piece of a discourse of fear that has lead this country into many wars fueled with further fear. The rejection of the original justification is the only means to a shift in paradigm that will end the cyclical feeding of fear and fighting. 

One of the strangest discoveries at ground zero in Hiroshima were the shadow like impressions from the heat of the explosion left on building walls of ordinary people going about their daily life (see attached images). Those shadow like impressions are reminders of the horrific price paid when fear and fight feed off one another. 

For the show I proposed creating an installation piece named ‘Shadows’ that is constituted of four (4) life size shadow like impressions of people, using a fabric version of papier mâché technique (using clothing articles, wall-paper glue, fabric glue, corn starch and grey paint). The images depict persons listening to an iPod, talking on a cell phone, walking with a stroller & text messaging. 

Weapons & Tools Exhibition (2008)

TiNT (This is Not a Truck) Gallery - Chicago, IL

Curated by Bloc Artists

Clothing, paint, wallpaper glue, corn starch, wood palette and shrink-wrap.

While ignoring the questions of morality posed by atomic/nuclear weapons, the powers that be have been propagating the possibility of terrorists using them in American cities. As karma would dictate, the possibility of an attack points to our own past coming back to bite us – in an equally immoral way. But the questions of morality these weapons pose don’t seem to be what disturbs many, as much as the fear of an attack does. 

Living with fear might be perceived as a payback for the past, but in reality, it does not, rather, it stands in as a cheap justification used by the powers that be to further erode notions of being humane, while not being inconvenienced with the debate on morality. This piece intends to debate morality of such weapons by bringing the ghost of ‘Little Boy’* back home. 

For the TiNT project I would like to propose an installation piece titled Little Boy Out On the Town. I would like to place a ½ scale model of ‘Little Boy’ (made from cardboard, old clothing articles and old furniture fabrics - please see pictures) on a palette, crudely shrink-wrap it, just enough to hold it in place and throw it on the back of the truck for it to taken all over town - please see attached pictures and sketches. The over all dimensions of the piece is 48” x 60” x 20” H.

* ‘Little Boy’ is the name of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.