To Keep That Bit Of Physical Distance
Istanbul in January and Februart of 2016 was rattled by suicide bombings by the Islamic State, the Syrian refugee crisis and the lingering of a civil war in the East. In midst of all this I was held by gun point by a street robber. This city which I’ve known since my early childhood years and were I walked freely and often on my own, now confronted me on a personal level of what was a common habit in politics. Being bullied into someone else’s wishes and needs.
To Keep That Bit of Physical Distance explores the space that’s left between the barrel of the gun and the body the perpetrator aims at. It is that space which a life depends on.
The drawings are printed by the line blot-method onto a whitened weekly Turkish cartoon magazine. Those often highly satirical and political cartoons serve as a backdrop upon which the Yoga-GI Joe's represent the official soldier, bound by “law and order”, are countered by armed civilians who act upon their own law.
The edition includes copies of cartoon magazines that are by now forbidden by the Turkish authorities.
Medium: ink, water-colour pencil, paint on recycled weekly Turkish cartoon magazine, 2016
Dimensions: 27.0 cm W x 33.0 cm H x 0.5 cm D
Edition: 14
INSTITUTIONAL COLLECTORS:
Stanford University, University of Delaware, School of the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, The Bainbridge Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts Wits Art Museum (WAM) - The University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa, Herzog August Bibliothek, KB nationale bibliotheek Nederland, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Wesleyan University, Harvard University Fine Arts Library.
RELATED FAIRS
Los Angeles Art Book Fair 2017 (LAABF 2017), Codex International Book Art Fair 2017, Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair 2017, Solstice Book Fair
Contact the studio for inquiries.