Var olmak mı?

İnsan iradesi nedir? Var olma sebebi nedir? Ve aldığı kararlar kendisini nasıl tanımlar? Hayata duruşumuz, insanlara yaklaşımımız, hayat tercihlerimiz, arkadaş ve sevdiklerimizi seçmemiz belki de var olma sebebimiz. Saygı, sevgi, sadakat,aidiyet tüm bunlar bizim varoluş sebebimiz belki de. Eğer bu ise mevzu, niye insanoğlu öylesine yaşamlar sürdürmek istiyor? Beklentisi olmadan, sorumluluk almak istemeden? Veya bu tip insanlar mı sadece beni buluyor? Bencil, sadakatsiz, saygısız sığır gibi yaşayan insanlar.

Belki size enteresan gelecek, belki acınası veya belki alışık olduğunuz bir olaya benzeteceksiniz. ama kısa zaman önce bir diyaloğa ortak olmak - daha doğrusu dinlemeye mecbur kaldım. 
Bana aylardır beraber olduğu kız hakkında yorum yapan birinden bahsetmek istiyorum. 

Söyledikleri acınası ve trajikomik. Beraber olduğu kızı tanımlarken asla ismini kullanmıyor ve hatta kendi varlığını bile şu şekilde tanımlıyordu:

 ‘sokakta bulduğu orospuya yardım etmeye çalışan bir goy goycu gibiyim’.

Insanın varlık düşüncesi, kendine ‘biçtiği kaftan’. 

Insan bunu başka bir insan için bile söylememeli ama düşüncelerimiz bizim var olma sebebimiz ise tanımlarımıza dikkat etmeliyiz. Hem kendimizi tanımlarken hem başkasını tanımlarken - sadece kendi kendimize konuşuyor olsak bile. Hayata bakışımızın, ideallerimizin ve insana verdiğimiz saygınız bizi betimler ise niye bu kadar acımasızız.

Bu düşünceler aklımı kurcalarken ve onlara tam olarak anlam veremezken bu hafta Jean Paul Sartre’nin Mezarsız Ölüler oyununu Gri Sahne’de izleme fırsatı buldum. Sorgulamalarımın bir ayağının buraya uğraması iç açıcı oldu ve belki de, gerçi hepsi olmasa da, bazı sorularıma cevaplar bulma fırsatım oldu. 

Mecidiyeköyde bulunan sahne ulaşımı kolay, ufak ve şirin bir yerde. Çay ve sıcak kek ikram edilen bu sahnede karşılayanlar güler yüzlü. Çayınızı yudumladığınız bu şirin mekanda izlemeye gelen diğer seyircilerle paylaştığınız an biraz sonra şahit olacağınız performansa size hazırlıyor aslında.

Jean Paul Sartre: Insanın kendi yazgısını belirlemedeki aktif rolünü vurgulayan ve marks, husserl ve heidegger gibi düşünürlerden etkilenmiş olan Sartre'ın temel çıkış noktası, insan varlığı ile öteki nesnelerin varlığı arasındaki farklılığın incelenmesinden oluşur.

Orada bekleyen seyircilerin farklılıkları ve nesneler arasındaki iletişimi oyunu izlemeye başlamadan seni düşündürmeye başlıyor bile.

İki perdeden oluşan oyun, oyuncuları ile kimi zaman izleyiciyi düşündürüyor kimi zaman hüzünlendiriyor. Oyuncuların işkence sahnelerini çok abartmamaları ama tam yerinde vurgu yapmaları güzel bir dokunuş olmuş.

Ekibe tekrar teşekkür ediyorum. Güzel bir günü düşünceli biçimde kapattığımız için.

Mezarsız Ölüler:

Yaşamın temek çelişkisi varlık ve hiçlik. Asıl soru şu: Nasıl var oluyoruz? Salt nefes alarak mı? Mezarsız Ölüler işte bu meseleye yanıt arıyor. Çok yönlü karakterler ve sürükleyici bir hikayeyle Sartre, özgür iradeyi ölümcül savaş ortamında teste tabi tutuyor. Ne kadar özgürsün?

Berna Küçülmez, Can Özden, Mehmet Zeki Giritli, Özgür Şahin, Seda Yüz ve Ümit Doğan’ın rol aldığı oyun 1944’te Fransa’daki bir grup direnişçinin, bir köyü ele geçirmeye çalışırken Petain yanlısı milisler tarafından ele geçirilerek sorgulanmalarını konu ediyor.  Direnişçiler, milisler tarafından teker teker sorgulanıp  işkenceden geçiriliyor. Sorgulanan direnişçiler, kendi var oluşlarına dair anlam yükledikleri tüm toplumsal değerleri sorgularken, kendi bireysel seçimlerinin onları özgürlüğe taşıyabileceği meselesiyle yüzleşiyor. Oyunda savaşın yıkıcı atmosferinde insanın var olma mücadelesi, Sartre’ın varoluşçuluk felsefesi ekseninde anlatılıyor. 

Jean-Paul Sartre (tam adı: Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre) (21 Haziran 1905, Paris - 15 Nisan 1980, Paris), ünlü Fransız yazar ve filozoftur. Felsefi içerikli romanlarının yanı sıra, her yönüyle kendine özgü olarak geliştirdiği Varoluşçu felsefesiyle de yer etmiş; bunların yanında Varoluşçu Marksizm şekillendirmesi ve siyasetteki etkinlikleriyle 20. yüzyıl'a damgasını vuran düşünürlerden biri olmuştur. O, her şeyden önce bir anlatıcı, denemeci, romancı, filozof ve eylemci olarak yalnızca Fransız aydınlarının temsilcisi olmakla kalmamış, özgün bir Entelektüel tanımlamasının da temsilcisi olmuştur.

Önemli Eserleri

L'imagination 1936(İmgelem)

La Nausée 1938 (Bulantı)

Le Mur (Dyvar)

L'imaginaire 1940

Les mouches 1943 (Sinekler)

L'etre et le néant 1943 (Varlık ve Hiçlik)

Huis-clos 1944 (Gizli Oturum)

La Putain respecteuse 1946 (Saygılı Yosma)

Morts sans sépultues 1946 (Mezarsız Ölüler)

Qu'est-ce que la littérature? 1947 (Edebiyat Nedir?)

Reflexions sur la question juive 1947 (Yahudi Sorunu Üzerine Düşünceler)

Les mains sales 1948 (Kirli Eller)

La mort dans L'ame 1949 (Tükeniş)

L'engrenage 1949 (Çark)

Le Diable et le bon Dieu 1951 (Şeytan ve Yüce Tanrı)

Les Séquesrés D'Altona 1959 (Altona Mahpusları)

Critique de la Raison diaelectique'te 1960 (Diyalektik Aklın Eleştirisi)

kitaplar:

Varoluşçuluk - Jean Paul Sartre | 7,60TL - D&R : Kitap

Varlık ve Hiçlik - Jean Paul Sartre | 37,24TL - D&R : Kitap

ME+HER

Once upon a time there was a big oak tree on the vast fields. There waited a girl with a white dress – white dress with small yellow flowers and a yellow ribbon across her waist.

She waited for the wind, the sun, she waited for the perfect one… For she thought…


Life is never like the fairy tales or our dreams but never the less we are born from our ashes…
And we learn, my god do we learn...

Here is a sweet short film that reminds us we are merely paper in this world and either together or alone we will be reborn.

Featurette for the short Film "ME + HER"
DIRECTED by: Joseph Oxford

cardboardfilm.com
imdb.com/title/tt3180148

Featurette Editor: Dhruv Kumar


youtube link for Me+Her

I would prefer not to?!

In life we always seem to have certain limits, if you may say, or the 'must' we have to do. We have to get a good education, get a good job, love a good person, start a family, grow old etc etc
And not just these, there are many moments in life where we are expected to do something. We are expected because maybe the loved one is also giving all their effort. But in reality, it actually isn't the case. On one is supposed to do anything at all. In fact no one should do anything for someone because life and time is never worth it.

Well maybe Bartleby is a different case... Imagine a world where you can say that you do not prefer to do anything and simply do not do it. Hard to contemplate is it not? Well then you should definitely read Bartleby's story
Bartleby, maybe one of the most astonishing stories you might ever read...


I AM a rather elderly man. The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men, of whom as yet nothing that I know of has ever been written:—I mean the law-copyists or scriveners. I have known very many of them, professionally and privately, and if I pleased, could relate divers histories, at which good-natured gentlemen might smile, and sentimental souls might weep. But I waive the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener the strangest I ever saw or heard of. While of other law-copyists I might write the complete life, of Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done. I believe that no materials exist for a full and satisfactory biography of this man. It is an irreparable loss to literature. Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and in his case those are very small. What my own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, that is all I know of him, except, indeed, one vague report which will appear in the sequel.

"Bartleby the Scrivener" is one of Melville's most famous stories. It is also one of the most difficult to interpret. For decades, critics have argued over numerous interpretations of the story.

The narrator of "Bartleby the Scrivener" is the Lawyer, who runs a law practice on Wall Street in New York. The Lawyer begins by noting that he is an "elderly man," and that his profession has brought him "into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men the law-copyists, or scriveners." While the Lawyer knows many interesting stories of such scriveners, he bypasses them all in favor of telling the story of Bartleby, whom he finds to be the most interesting of all the scriveners. Bartleby is, according to the Lawyer, "one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and, in his case, those were very small."

Before introducing Bartleby, the Lawyer describes the other scriveners working in his office at this time. The first is Turkey, a man who is about the same age as the Lawyer (around sixty). Turkey has been causing problems lately. He is an excellent scrivener in the morning, but as the day wears on—particularly in the afternoon—he becomes more prone to making mistakes, dropping ink plots on the copies he writes. He also becomes more flushed, with an ill temper, in the afternoon. The Lawyer tries to help both himself and Turkey by asking Turkey only to work in the mornings, but Turkey argues with him, so the Lawyer simply gives him less important documents in the afternoon.

The second worker is Nippers, who is much younger and more ambitious than Turkey. At twenty-five years old, he is a comical opposite to Turkey, because he has trouble working in the morning. Until lunchtime, he suffers from stomach trouble, and constantly adjusts the height of the legs on his desk, trying to get them perfectly balanced. In the afternoons, he is calmer and works steadily.

The last employee—not a scrivener, but an errand-boy—is Ginger Nut. His nickname comes from the fact that Turkey and Nippers often send him to pick up ginger nut cakes for them.

The Lawyer spends some time describing the habits of these men and then introduces Bartleby. Bartleby comes to the office to answer an ad placed by the Lawyer, who at that time needed more help. The Lawyer hires Bartleby and gives him a space in the office. At first, Bartleby seems to be an excellent worker. He writes day and night, often by no more than candlelight. His output is enormous, and he greatly pleases the Lawyer.

One day, the Lawyer has a small document he needs examined. He calls Bartleby in to do the job, but Bartleby responds: "I would prefer not to." This answer amazes the Lawyer, who has a "natural expectancy of instant compliance." He is so amazed by this response, and the calm way Bartleby says it, that he cannot even bring himself to scold Bartleby. Instead, he calls in Nippers to examine the document instead.

The plot is deceptively simple. The Lawyer, a well-established man of sixty working on Wall Street, hires a copyist—seemingly no different from any other copyist, though the Lawyer is well-accustomed to quirky copyists. But Bartleby is different. Bartleby's initial response of "I would prefer not to," seems innocent at first, but soon it becomes a mantra, a slogan that is an essential part of Bartleby's character. It is, as the Lawyer points out, a form of "passive resistance."

Walking through Art – week 13 2015 (part 1)

A couple of days every month I go on a walk through art galleries. Still working on routes but until then here is this week’s updates:

Stops:
Galeri Zilberman: Guido Casaretto “Synesthesia”
Blok Art Space: Göksu Gül “Free of Charge”
PG Art Gallery: Weltschmerz
Daire Gallery: Multiple Choice
Galeri Od'A-Ouvroir d'Art: "Türkiye’den Yeni Nesil, Genç Çağdaş Sanatçılar"
Pera Müzesi: Alberto Giacometti
Adasanat: “Deve”
Sismanoglio Megaro: Kostantinos Kerestetzis

·         * The details on the last three stops will be on the next post.


This tour actually took two days. It actually could have taken just a day.




First stop was at Galeri Zilberman: Guido Casaretto. 

I knew Guido from the time they started the foundations of Sanatorium, so I guess for about over seven years. We met when we were preparing for the opening of Sanatorium. One of the most talented and great artists I have known.
Guido is an Italian artists born in 1981. He lives and works in Istanbul. In his creations he uses wood constructions to represent human anatomy with outstanding compositions. Using CGI he works on minimalized mediums to represent supernatural visualizations.
The exhibition was great as usual. There was even a surprise; one of the artwork was placed behind the desk at the entrance. So you got to see it if you’re too careful.

In this exhibition:

“Galeri Zilberman is proud to announce Guido Casaretto’s new solo exhibition Synesthesia. The exhibition can be visited at Galeri Zilberman on the third floor of Mısır Apartment, between March 14th and May 2nd, 2015. 

 


Synesthesia, a phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway, is named after a term meaning “united sensation” in Ancient Greek. Dealing with the types of perception of nature and reproducing it with digital means, Casaretto focuses on the phenomenon of sensation with his new exhibition that is comprised of his most recent works. Engaged with electronic information, various materials and art-historical references, the exhibition overlaps the different sensations with regard to the physical quality of the material and the types of perception within the concept of art history.
The recent works of Guido Casaretto create their alternative nature through the intense relationship they establish with each other and invite the viewer to discover it. The interaction triggered by the physical approach goes deep down into the multidimensional sensation through the materials used by the artist such as concrete, skin, soil and epoxy. A delicate deer, one of the significant topics of a classical painting, transforms into a solid concrete with the use of constructive iron while a skin of an another animal turns into a canvas on which a robust male figure is depicted with the classical painting technique 

Chiaroscuro (*). Casaretto reinterprets the subject-object relation by getting to the bottom of form and content matter with today’s references.
A stage where three-dimensional modelling has reached so far is also included in the exhibition with the template of “David”. Effigies modelled from this template and hand-painted by the artist reach a unique form of reality with the use of three-dimensional patterns. Creating an interlayer through the painting composed by the activity of hand painting with utmost meticulousness, the artist determines the nature of the relationship between the viewer and the object. The former works of Casaretto, comprised of realistic manifestation of nature created in digital environment, are reversed by these new series of works through the manual intervention of the artist to the machine production. The works define the uniqueness of the handmade and invite the viewers to experience the sensation.”

The second stop is Blok Art Space: Güksu Gül.

Göksu Gül is a real talented young artist. Her work requires at most the best of patience. She works generally with ink on paper and canvas. With the smallest details – lines, dots and curves- she patiently creates the greatest works. Her art has different meanings and represents different feeling from each of the steps you take to see the art. She also took part in Galeri Od'A-Ouvroir d'Art: "Türkiye’den Yeni Nesil, Genç Çağdaş Sanatçılar" this week. Talented, hardworking and also the sweetest person.

“Exhibition: March 13th - April 25th, 2015

Göksu Gül was born in Ankara in 1984. Since graduating from Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty’ Painting Department in 2006, Göksu has been working as a cartoonist for various magazines. The artist has been showing her works, in which she combines her talent in drawing with her curiosity towards nature, at group exhibitions. Following the initial processes of exploring and analysing nature, Göksu’s recent drawings focus on the transformation and development processes of live forms. While these processes were further investigated through her sculptures that employ different materials, her latest large canvas works portray rather macro depictions of nature. The artist shares her admiration for existence as she presents the viewer with a “free of charge” esthetics through forms. Showing her first ever solo exhibition that will take place at BLOK art space, Göksü Gül currently lives and works in İstanbul.



“We keep complaining that art is underappreciated in our country… We correlate this fact with economic backgrounds, and we worsen the situation by making “high art” even more inaccessible… Yet, all one needs to do in order to see this exhibition is to take a single public bus ride. Like a view of the mountains, I am offering a beautiful scene free of charge.”
Göksu Gül”

The third stop: PG Art Gallery: Weltschmerz

“Pg Art Gallery is pleased to present “Weltschmerz”, a collective exhibition that encompasses the works of Candaş Şişman, Çınar Eslek, Devran Mursaloğlu, Jak Baruh, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar and Yonca Karakaş. Weltschmerz will be on view from March 5, through March 29, 2015.


Weltschmerz*, is a phenomenon that refers to the alienation, depression and suffering an individual experiences when witnessed the physical and social brutality around the world. 

Romantic Era is frequently represented by idealization of the World and the reference to the fluctuation of the emotions when confronted by this ideal. This show emphasizes a sort of similarity between this perspective of the Romantic Period and the perception of reality of contemporary artists. 

There is a clear relationship between the forms and methods that contemporary art employs to continually disconcert the concept of reality and the desire to renounce or transform the perceived world. The social changes that are experienced both in global and local levels cause a constant anxiety, mechanization and numbness in human behaviour but at the same time they also lead to the renunciation of the reality. This renunciation of art sometimes aims for an utterly harsh mechanism of criticism or resort to a twisted perception, which can be described almost as schizophrenic.



When faced with the situation that the desired world is always resides in the future and the present one is not compatible with one’s own universe the impulsive action that the artists take is not to represent the world as it is but to transfigure it, deconstruct it or reproduce it. Our inability to reconcile with the world per se lead us either to self-destruction or to a path which pushes us to create new ways to transform and improve it. At this point, whatever method he or she chooses, being an artist itself present us new modes of living and so cracks our numb outer cover and creates some sensation. Unlike the everyday contact, this special type of communication we develop through art shows us the similarities of the anxieties we experience and enables us to conceptualize them and eventually to talk about them.



*Weltschmerz, invented by German writer Jean Paul, is essentially an untranslatable concept that roughly means a feeling of melancholy and world-weariness. The term that is usually associated with the melancholic and pessimistic works of Romantic poets and writers, and is used to describe the existential pain and meaninglessness that originates from the incompetency of the mind’s desires in the face of the reality’s destructive nature.”

The fourth stop: Daire Gallery: Multiple Choice

This gallery was not in my plans but it was right beside PG Art Gallery so I ended up going to it. With collections from many artists it shares the idea of ‘education’. How and what it represents in our country. Maybe not so boldly but you get the picture. I guess I don’t have a lot to say about this exhibition for there was too much scatter, differences and even, though it all looked like a part of something, the arrangement was off the hook.

Take a look yourself:

The fifth stop: Galeri Od'A-Ouvroir d'Art: "Türkiye’den Yeni Nesil, Genç Çağdaş Sanatçılar"

Artistes:

Ayşegül Turan
Beril Gür
Burcu Yağcıoğlu
Eda Emirdağ
Eda Gecikmez
Gamze Taşdan
Gökçen Dilek Acay
Göksu Gül
Gülsün Öykü Doğan
İrfan Dönmez
Kubilay Mert Ural
Meliha Sözeri
Merve Denizci
Naciye Danış Akbıyıkoğulları
Neslihan Koyuncu
Özge Topçu
Serhat Koçak
Serpil Tuğçe Aytürk
Tuğba Yüksel

This exhibition took place at: Sainte Pulchérie French High School.

İt was a collaboration of 19 artists’ ages between 25-35. These young artists invite us to their worlds and aids us while we walk the path of their great imaginations. Using perspective they represent their own cultural differences, life understandings, feeling and even death with the help of different mediums such as installations, paintings, sculptures and drawings.

All the works are exquisite. An exhibition that must be seen...