paper talks

Keziban Baskı/ Can Aytekin /Coşkun Demirok 

"Garage" situates now the drawing between four concrete walls. In an art environment where material often outweighs all else, this "genre" fails to find recognition or appreciation as a valued form. With a natural freedom of movement afforded by the scale, the works are placed into unexpected contexts with one another. They integrate so fully with the space that they redefine it. Meanwhile, the artists’ choices of paper and their ways of intervening upon it reveal a somewhat nonchalant, unconcerned attitude. A clear sense of exploration, a drive to transcend boundaries and experiment, is evident in all their works. This is not a rebellious street art attitude, mind you. Quite the opposite; each approach is devoted to creating its own coherent world. If there are stories to be told, they are intentionally far from being explicit. Their ambiguities transform them into cryptic messages that may even challenge the viewer’s perception and expectations of art. They appear as if left there solely for their own sake.

Lighting takes on a new role and function with each exhibition at the "garage." This time, the white fluorescent lights are arranged in a block on the wall behind the viewers. As always, they assert their own identity, independent of mere illumination, as objects of light in themselves.

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"garage" dört beton duvarı arasına bu kez deseni konumlandırıyor. Malzemenin ağır bastığı ana akım sanat ortamında bu „genre“ yüz bulmuyor, bir değer olarak algılanmıyor. Boyutlarının da sağladığı doğal bir hareket serbestisi ile çalışılmış işler birbirleriyle beklenmedik bir bağlama sokuluyorlar. Çizimler alışılagelmiş desen büyüklüklerini yer yer aşıyor, mekana korumasızca yerleştiriliyorlar. O denli mekanla iç içeler ki, onu yeniden tanımlıyorlar. Çalışmalarının tümünde bir arayışın, kendini aşma, deneyleme eğiliminin itici bir güç olarak varlığı oldukça bariz. Yanlış anlaşılmasın, bir sokak sanatının dikkafalılığı değil buradaki tutum. Tam tersine her bir yaklaşım kendi tutarlı dünyasını yaratmakla mesgul. Varsa anlattıkları bir şeyler, iyi ki de açık olmaktan oldukça uzaktalar. Belirsizlikleri onları şifrelere dönüştürüyor ve belki de izleyicinin sanat algısını, sanattan beklentisini zorluyor. Mekâna sanki yalnızca kendileri için varmışlarcasına bırakılmışlar.

Işık „garage“ mekanındaki her yeni gösteride başka bir rol ve işlev üstleniyor. Gene beyaz, florasan lambalar bu kez izleyicinin arkasına düşen duvarda bir blok olarak yerleştirilmişler. Her keresinde olduğu gibi, onlar kendi özgünlüklerini, yalnızca aydınlatma görevinden bağımsız bir ışık nesnesi olarak savunuyorlar.​​​

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Keziban Baskı creates forms in constant motion and actions whose scale and depth are unpredictable. Resembling at times the drawings of children, though perhaps distinguishable by their starkness, these formations aim neither to please nor to win anyone over. Sometimes reminiscent of micro-organisms under a microscope, other times resembling heavy, immovable blocks, they defy easy categorization. People may try to relate them to something familiar but eventually give up, leaving them as they are. On paper, they deliberately adopt "incorrect" positions in defiance of every aesthetic norm, resisting time and space. Keziban Baskı essentially records the vibrations of the world she inhabits, producing continuously. The works clearly lack any meditative function; instead, they emerge as inevitable reflexes, persistently materializing in any environment and becoming part of life.

Can Aytekin scans the surface of the paper with rhythmic movements using oil pastels. One could almost liken these resonances to recordings of minimalist music. His nearly automated hand movements and repetitions create textures resembling woven structures. His choice of colors strengthens this impression, giving rise to subtle motifs. These motifs, however, are not static; they move, drawing the viewer into their flow. The artist’s style of working, involving indeterminate motions, recalls a Sisyphean task. He also mentions the possibility of transferring these works to canvas in the future. Can Aytekin brings a broad artistic experience that spans the intersections and transitions among writing, painting, printmaking, architecture, and spatial studies, exploring them independently or in various combinations and scales.

Coşkun Demirok, an artist and architect who produces in very different fields, has been working for some time on a series using black acrylic paint on cardboard packaging, integrating its natural texture and color. The traces that at times suggest cracks or tears, or symbols reminiscent of an undiscovered alphabet, transform into a consistent rhythm, a flow. This series blends randomness and spontaneity. Demirok describes these works as "records" of time. They emerge instantaneously and counter any calculated thought. After the brush meets the paint, intuition takes over, leading to a continuous and successive production. This time, he applies the same style to a material referred to in the market as "book paper," which just barely holds its own weight. The semi-transparent paper wrinkles from the paint's impact, becoming one with it. While using his works as a curtain dividing the space, Demirok simultaneously facilitates the transition between the other artists’ works.

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