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Critical Evaluation

My current practice is experimentation on thinking through ceramics and exposing the concept of melancholy through the body of work. To be able to reach this goal, I aimed to build a connection between concept and making. 

Melancholy is about an internal conversation can bring enlightenment to the one and compassion and empathy for the others. It is about abstract approach and poetry; also about the idea of destruction and ethereal aspect of it. Clay as a primal element of earth is a choice of material in my practice and is a reference to human beings as primitives. Besides, its tacit voice is giving me a profound and gentle ground to expose the subject. To be able to build this concept through making, I allowed clay forms to fall over affordances and dry and fix in that position, I also did scratching all over the surface as a reflection of obsession and repetition. Besides, I explored the idea of breakage and I even broke my pieces and tried to create a movement by the way I install them. Variety in mark making and forms are also support of performative aspect in the work and the whole idea of movement is a reference to melancholy’s being a life-affirming state. I do hope my practice on ceramics can be an alternative material example for craftivist approach and can build a strong statement on how craft can be conceptual. 

My practice in MA Designer Maker program gave me an ability to understand materials in a deeper way and made me have considerable experience in creating sculptural forms. Also, the concept of melancholy and extending research on it gave me an angle for upcoming profound statements about the core of human being. I believe that my experience on ceramics and 3D thinking here and my graphics background are leading me to a multidisciplinary approach in design and art with a frame of deep research on my interests of human states. My plan in near future is to launch studio “Future Myths” in London which I already finished to process of application and am in the wait of confirmation. Besides, I am on the process of applying for an open-call briefed for performance proposals by Institute of Contemporary Arts. Also, many residencies around the world are one of the certain to-do plans to build my network wider. I will also keep improving my performing skills with experimental workshops.

For long-term plans, my aim is to have more improvements on my skills in visual arts with deepening research methods and reach to a point that I can be a visual creator through my thinking with a clear and empathetic intellectuality. Also, I definitely want to make writing have a big role in my practice and I do feel my upcoming and deeper interests in Philosophy may potentially lead me to a Ph.D. I do hope my journey on visual arts will bring me to a point that I will find deeper rhythms and meanings of the world and share it with people with the power of visual thinking.

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Evaluation on Reflection

“I became less and less interested in the ordering of parts and more concerned with horizontal scale, vastness.” 

This quote from sculptor Barry Le Va was the first post in my reflective journal. The word “vastness” resonated in my mind many times and I suddenly shared it. Because I was aware of my intentions on understanding and interpreting the world as a whole rather than spare parts. I was more interested in encapsulating ideas rather than well-framed subjects. I knew I wanted to talk about the human being and touch somewhere at very core but I didn’t know what it was, yet.

I started the course by exploring the relationship between objects and space. I thought daily objects can tell about human being and space would help me to expose the vastness. I thought they might bring something close to my concept even though I didn’t know what it was exactly at that time. I started to hunt everyday objects in bazaars and had research on space as a notion and its place in design and art. Circular shape was visible choice in objects I collected and there was a narrative of nostalgia in them. I did the plastic casting for the objects I collected, also played and distorted with their functionality. Also, I believe the broken bowl in this post: brokenbowl - was hiding a clue on what I’ll be doing on later on in terms of the concept: allowance of breakage. Besides at the end of spoon carving workshop in uni, I accidentally broke my piece but I was amazed by its uncompleted beauty. The word “absence” resonated in my mind many times but I still didn’t know where it was about to take me. 

After a while of experimenting on objects and space, ideas of absence and breakages pumped each other and within my personal experience and confessions; I have realized that the subject that I wanted to talk about was melancholy. I used the word confession because it was even too negating in my perception, but I was a man who was truly melancholic for my whole life and I knew that there is something in that internal conversation which might bring an enlightenment for the one and compassion and empathy for the others. After this realization on melancholy concept; I directly jumped into research; shared some notes on Mourning and Melancholia by Freud and realized that the main perception of melancholy is really negating. Then came across with Melanie Klein and she was the first writer was mentioning melancholy as a state that can be life-affirming. After all, I directed an angle to my research to find sources framing melancholy in terms of an enlightening experience. 

While I was researching the notion of melancholy and its perception in the modern world, I started to work in the ceramic studio. The reason that I did it was my intentions and beliefs on the tacit voice of the clay and its being earth’s most primal element. However, I’ve never touched clay before in my life and that’s why I was a bit sceptic at what I could to with it. But at the moment I discovered its versatility I directly started to push its physical limits and %100 intuitionally I started scratching. Here is a post from day 1 from ceramic studio.

Having a decision on the concept of melancholy and trying to depict it through clay became my whole journey afterward. I continued to try to push the physical limits of clay and constantly researched and collected texts and visuals for the idea of melancholy. While we were getting ready for the interim show I had experimentation on using broken pieces of ceramics and installing them with fixed bigger pieces. I also tried different materials such as paint pigments and crashed car window to see how they connect with ceramics. They were too bright.  But there was something out of that experience; the need for movement, aliveness, and performance. Yes I deliberately used black clay and it was perfect to bring the gloom and material itself was very tacit but at the end of this concept; my aim was bringing a suggestion on melancholy to make it reconsidered as a potential positive state. The idea of performance was the key to reach that aim. I had an experience of performing already but I didn’t know that I could marry it with ceramics. Then I also could understand why I wasn’t designing anything before making and I was just using my intuitions only. I was trying to bring performative aspect in the making. It was my approach as a maker. I could find some references on this conceptual thinking in making in the book “Thinking Through Craft” by Glenn Adamson and it was a great source to understand craft’s inferior place in design and art scene and its potential gaps in the contemporary scene in terms of conceptualization. Also, I was researching on how protest can be gentle and Craftivist Collective by Sarah Corbet and her book in Craftivism was a great source to build my tone of voice while I’m raising my thoughts to the public. In the meantime, I started to work on my research paper to expose melancholy in terms of subject and source in art. 

Summer Show 2018 had arrived and I made an installation of ceramic pieces with abstract forms and broken bits on it. Even though I was feeling ready to reflect all the gloom and messiness of melancholy into the work, surprisingly I made up something super contained and neat. After the show, I was so surprised how my internal state of minds was affecting my work; the reason that it was contained and not performative and let's say free as much as I expected was just my feeling at that time. My emotional state and fears were affecting my ability on performance and it was reductive for my work. This realization led me to be more aware of keeping the control on reaching my aims in my practice and the importance of work on site.  It was definitely teaching experience and I finished the 1st year with the full of questions. 

Before second year started, I collected autobiographical objects and images from family archive on summer break. I wasn’t seeing an autobiographical aspect as necessity in my practice but I thought it could help to make audience understand the background of my work and rationalize it in a better way. Because since the beginning, my challenge was making sense truthfully with this very poetic concept. So I was on the way to use these photos and objects from the family archive to make my work more well framed. I was exposing spiritual relationship between my aunt Leyla and me, replicating the caftan I was wearing at my circumcision ceremony as a symbolization of being a man in Turkey. However, within the time, these too exposed and very personal subject, even though they were making audience understand the rhythm I live on and my work, they were too loud for my work. No matter what I continued to test them had Research Sharing event just before the work in progress show. The event was called “Searching Melancholy” and prepared different performance works (link1 - link2) which I was engaging clay with my body and objects and in a way was searching the performative aspect in making; but more in the perspective of performance. I also presented a number of research references from whirling dervishes to volcanos; books on craft thinking and psychoanalysis of emotional states. I also presented works from summer show and made new works using my aunt’s photos, circumcision caftan and sculptural work made by foam pieces I tore in one night in my bedroom. Please view whole process of preparation and final outcomes of the Research Sharing event from here.

After all, before the degree show I started to speed up the preparations and came up with different ideas. One was about making a trilogy work to narrate melancholy and the other one was the conceptualizing the breakage. But within the feedbacks from tutorials and my evaluation, I realized that my work was working in the way that I want already and I realized I was testing extreme questions such as overly expressing and overly conceptualizing in my work. I gave up from all of them. The cycle in mind looped again and I dived into what I was doing already and started to make constantly. I made 3-4 pieces by each day with aiming a landscape of destruction. I tried to create variations on performative making from scratching to fingermark, free fall forms to breakages. After reaching a considerable amount of pieces, the installation process has started and I challenged myself with by building a balance between the composition and the randomness. I believe I reached to a point that a work talking within its material in such tacit way, its form in allowed destructive body and installed with intuitional movement to talk about melancholy within its all complexity and beauty. I believe it is a work that doesn’t force itself to show any greatness, is therefore truly great. Please view the whole making process from here. 

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And I am there. 

The day before the assessments, I finished the installation. 

Challenge of the day was building the balance between making it messy and composed/considered at the same time. First I built dust to made piece road and it was super composed. It bothered me; then I put the ceramic pieces. It wasn’t enough. Then I started to spread bits randomly, poured dust all over works and made it messier. 

And finally, I believe I came to a point that random look that marrying with the composition; which I am happy to arrive there because it is exactly where I want to reach for melancholy; in between the contrasts. 

Also, I believe it succeeded in the ethereal scene of destruction but still suggesting a cycle and movement. Exactly like melancholy, even though it is considered as destructive, it is also a cacoon of creation.

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Another test on installing ///

It is definitely not in the way that I want. It is too piled off and it doesn’t breathe. Movement is there but not gentle. Overlapping doesn’t make it flowy, in reverse, it is capsulating. Landscape doesn’t show the variety.

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I started to create a selection of the bits by their sizes. I believe this will be really great to make this mess landscape more considered and fine.

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My proposal for MA Select 2019

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I found bigger mirror panels but they surprisingly don’t work in the way rectangular works. I believe rectangular ones acknowledging the size of the material. Also, I started to put all the works on the panels. Landscape is definitely coming. 

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First day at the exhibition space

I bought acrylic mirror 1mx0.5m by each and I like how they reflect the daylight. It is not too eye catchy but shiny in the way that it needs to be. Transparent paper on it will stay. I like how ceramic works brings a shadow on the background. It is almost another dimension of the work. 

I am planning to add 2 more panels; and in any case I’ll try to find a whole panel like a one piece rather than rectangular

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Scenes from studio

I put clay sheets into the kiln. Well they got broken into many pieces already while I’m moving them; which is fine because they are meant to be broken

Landscape is coming together, I am excited by the variety of forms and surface and can’t wait to install them

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10000 Gestures at Turbine Hall

On the weekend after constantly making, I was just having a look around in the city and came across a very intimate performance show at Turbine Hall in Tate Modern.

The work is called 10000 Gestures and it been performed by different performers for hours. I watched 4, each of them was telling different stories on gender and identities. 

Gestures were extremely exaggerated, it was almost a depiction of gestures. It was easy to snapshot them. I believe the idea of gestures and particular movements for each of them is a great example of the connection between emotions and body.

That's why this little gem visit at Tate was super inspiring for me to think about movement and emotions in my work. 

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New updates for summer show:

3rd firing is done, some new forms on free fall are made and I made lots of clay sheet to break them later

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I started to spread the bits all around the works.

Now the landscape is coming alive. Yes it is super random but I need to find a way to install it in a more considerating way

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I made this big piece because I thought it would be nice to have a horizontal and big shape to have a wider presence in the landscape

Lets see if I can put it in the kiln

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This is what I’ve been up to so far, 

It’s coming, good to see the all variation

It will definitely be a landscape

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I am experimenting for new variations for the work

I know that it is going to be a landscape, I want to bring variation as much as I can

I continue to test finger mark and one more on just squeezing the clay and creating distorted forms 

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I am constantly making

New forms for the show

And 2nd firing --- I think I will allow some of them to not to be fired -- Its good to show progression of being fired or not -- it works with my concept

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New forms for summer show

I do really enjoy everytime how I allow them to fall and dry, everytime its a surprise

I also started to think about background. I’m planning to display it on the floor and I don’t want to use Japanese paper like last summer show - Acrylic mirror looks surprisingly good- i like the reflective play - works with the concept - i don't want to take transparent paper out --- black foam is quite absorbing the work, I will not use it