ARTER is hosting Ali Mahmut Demirel‘s first solo exhibition, “Isle”. It is on the second floor of ARTER’s exhibition space until July 15th. The exhibition brings together Demirel’s new video series “Post-Apocalyptic Utopias,” in which the artist observes abandoned architectural structures.
From the Organizer:
The Berlin-based artist Ali Mahmut Demirel , who studied nuclear engineering and architecture, will hold his first solo exhibition in Istanbul at ARTER. The show will include works from his ongoing video project in which he observes abandoned architectural structures in different locations around the world and contemplates a human-free post-apocalyptic future. Through the three presented works, The Pier (2015), The Pit (2017) and The Plant (2018), Demirel delves into what happens to a structure’s function when the humans no longer inhabit it. The artist draws from his background in nuclear engineering and architecture to create compositions that deal with concepts derived from science and architecture.
In its literal meaning, the notion of “isle” suggests an isolated piece of land surrounded by water, it also alludes to several historical and contemporary narratives around the concept of “utopia”. This title serves as a key concept that is vague and obscure, bearing the potential to immerse the viewer in the feelings evoked by both the works and the exhibition space.
As a binding element and a metaphor of timelessness, Demirel incorporates different forms of water in all four works. The water constantly spurts this way and that like a huge metronome in “The Hose”. “The Pier” begins in the middle of the sea, seen enveloped in mist, and ends with the waves crashing on the shore at sunset. The water in “The Pit” ebbs and rises, while its colour changes through the seasons. In “The Plant”, light, intermittent rain falls on the puddles which appear repeatedly throughout the video. As a recurring element in all four videos, water reminds of the deluge myth mentioned in several myths and holy
books.
In the “Post-Apocalyptic Utopias” series, Demirel observes abandoned architectural structures in different locations around the world to fantasise about a post-apocalyptic future with no human survivors and poses the question, “How do structures live without the humans they were designed for?” “The Pier” (2015) was shot at Scheveningen Pier in the Netherlands that operated as a leisure and recreational facility after 1959; “The Pit” (2017) at a cistern on the outskirts of Turgutreis in Bodrum, probably from the early 1900s; and “The Plant” (2018) at the Packard Automotive Plant which operated from 1903 until the early 2000s in Detroit, USA. Demirel calls these spaces “architectural utopias”, even though they could easily be identified as dystopian, since they are no longer being used by people. In “Post-Apocalyptic Utopias”, a cistern with a collapsed dome, a factory abandoned since it is no longer economically sustainable, and a pier occupied by pige ons, its columns rusted, evoke a dystopic character. Yet these abandoned sites whose functions have become obsolete Demirel finds utopic, as they have assumed a rather peaceful and balanced existence, in and of themselves. With regard to the structures featured in this video series, according to Demirel, once the originally intended function has been rendered obsolete, the functional hierarchy is replaced by a spatial heterarchy. These very much defined forms begin to interact with the living organisms present in that space, and transform into potential entities that may assume new, yet to be defined meanings.
Arter and the Istanbul Film Festival have collaborated on a programme centred on Ali Mahmut Demirel’s practice. Three movies – The Last of England (Derek Jarman), Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky) and The Well (Metin Erksan) – which inspired Demirel’s “Post-Apocalyptic Utopias” series will be screened at the 37th Istanbul Film Festival (6–17 April) within the “Architectural Utopias – Cinematic Dystopias” section of the programme.
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For more information, be sure to keep up with the official event page.
Address: İstiklâl Caddesi No. 211, Tünel, Beyoğlu
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