'Magical Things, Waiting Patiently'

About

The exhibition, which is an invitation to slow down our pace and pay attention to the propositions of nature, to hold up a lens and feel and to collectively think around the concepts of time, effort and patience, features new and recent works by Ali İbrahim Öcal, Ahmet Duru, Ayşe Gül Süter, Melis Buyruk and Sadık Arı, and  the long-term performance of Dikine Ongoing Project titled ‘Şey ve Tekrar’ (Object and Repetition) will be presented by Umut Sevgül and Barbaros Kayan. The exhibition is curated by Sezgi Abalı and coordinated by Bahar Güneş.

During his production process, Ali İbrahim Öcal uses different media such as painting, photography, sculpture, installation, video and natural objects to create imaginary universes progressing in an interdisciplinary pattern. The artist, who produces works that incorporate universal, geographical and local cultural codes as much as possible and cover an entity of multi-layered images such as soil, seed, sprouting, growth, extinction and rebirth, invites the viewer to the experience of a certain geographical location.

While presenting the macro and micro landscapes of nature in different ways of expression, Ahmet Duru mostly makes use of his long walks and observations in nature. As we trace nature’s unique schedule and seasonal variations in Duru's exhibited works, we begin to think about the methods plants have developed to survive.

Ayşe Gül Süter, has had the opportunity to examine life through different organisms and at different scales in science laboratories around the world where she was invited as a guest artist. In her works, she combines scientific data with new media technologies and traditional art techniques. The dialogues she initiates between movement, light, time and space transform into new forms and areas of sensory experience. Süter's Micro Spheres series, which will be exhibited in the great hall of Taş Konak (Stone Mansion), where Kalyon Kültür is located, consists of a light and color-based glass installation and a video of a flight simulation on human cells.

Known for her detailed ceramic works, Melis Buyruk brings together plants, animals and humans in undefined forms and in an inverted hierarchy, creating new living spaces with repetitive textures and forms. The realistic but somewhat illusory aesthetics in her sculptures that are being shown in the exhibition Magical Things Waiting Patiently, unlock connections to surreal dreams. While Buyruk's choice of material, colour and subject reveals cultural references, it prompts the audience to reconsider their preconceptions about living things that are always right in front of their eyes.

Sadık Arı’s production embarks on the perspective of scientific illustrations. While looking at nature to understand human actions, Arı deals with the plunder caused by humankind's appetite to prevail over other living things during his existence. In Arı’s detailed drawings shown in the exhibition, we follow the trails of an idea that resists the human's quest to define and tame the wild.

The long-term performance of Dikine Ongoing Project, titled “Şey ve Tekrar” (Object and Repetition), which will take place within the scope of the exhibition, spanning thirty days, is presented by Umut Sevgül and Barbaros Kayan. The long-term performance will begin with one-by-one stringing together spheres produced from old newspapers in a size that can fit in a single palm and placing them into the space. The performance questions the completion process of a rosary. While the cycle in the stations continues where the raw materials and tools are located, this trail-making feeds on the idea of discontinuity, temporality and placelessness within the movement between the two opposite rooms of the exhibition area. 

The performance takes place in real time due to the nature of the matter, and it traces the dialogue of movement with space and matter, as well as information passing through the memory of the spine. The video recordings from the first stage of the performance will be placed in the space in the second stage. Thus, the performance intends to continue its perception of time and memory through the relationship it establishes with space. The performer shapes her perception of the space with the real/hyper-real maps and the live streaming on certain days will be an encounter between the performer and visitors in a void. 

The exhibition takes its name from “The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper”. Constructed on the concepts of time, effort, patience and detail, the exhibition explores the idea and process of interpreting nature's unique patterns, mechanisms and landscapes, and transforming them into works of art.

Magical Things, Waiting Patiently, can be seen at Kalyon Kültür until 25 November 2021.