Spaces of Culture

Art lovers in Izmir have a new reason to celebrate as the city’s new, independent contemporary art venue the Hayy Open Space kicks off its first event. Curated by the artist platform Monitor in cooperation with fellow cultural initiative Loading, the venue’s premier exhibition, entitled ‘Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear,’ draws its inspiration from Theodor W. Adorno’s masterpiece ‘Minima Moralia.’ Using that work as a thematic framing-device, the exhibition reflects the hope that we can see the world by its true colors by altering our perspectives even in the face of despair, and by not caving in to the unconditional acceptance of norms that we take for granted in life. Featuring video and photography installations by Adem Bulut, Barış Eviz and Hito Steyerl, the exhibition invites visitors to question the transformation of the individual into a member of a collective, global society through various media. Steyerl, who hails from Germany, protests television, a medium that Horkheimer and Adorno argue streams the whole of the world through a filter as a part of the culture industry, with his work ‘Strike.’ Additionally, Adem Bulut, who lives and works in Diyarbakır, highlights the concept of making something more visible in society in his photo series “Keska Resulillah” by portraying cultural phenomena as a target to be attained, a pattern frequently observed in mass media. Barış Eviz, an artist living in Batman, adds a kind of delightful tension to the exhibition with his work “The Recm,” which was created in 2009. In his work, audiences are faced with a group of teenagers ranging from 14-18 years old who protest the imperialist reality behind the campaign of lies in the media of how the oil industry will bring development to Batman by invigorating the local educational infrastructure. In doing so, the young group throws coins, the ultimate symbol of capitalism, into an oil well situated on of the city’s busiest streets in what becomes a performative, literary echo of the classic Islamic tale the ‘Stoning of the Devil.’ ‘Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear’ can be seen at the Hayy Open Space, a venue which focuses on contemporary art and explores new ways of collective thinking through different disciplines, until November 23.

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