Escape from Plato’s Cave

Monitor

Exhibition

İzmir

03/05 – 24/05/2019

Is selfness something that we come across when there are no eyes to see, no surface to reflect? Or is it in a state of standing in which we develop against the reflecting one, with reflecting one itself? Monitor’s exhibition ‘Escape from Plato’s Cave’ focuses on the self’s transformation and resistance to the capitalist system. Avi Krispin and Burak Delier question the behavior of the individual who has become a part of the system and lost himself or herself.

In Avi Krispin’s video, There Was a Time When Men Died for Honor, a person arrives by car, stops at an abandoned warehouse to prepare to be consistent with his next role. Here, a group of men, perform the necessities of their social roles which are shaped by social status and power, and, with an expressionist technique, take possession of themselves. A new member who watched from outside is still behind the scenes. In Burak Delier’s video Songs of the Possessed, we see a scene from a training method used in the management of workplace relationships. The white-collar employees, whose reactions change instantly, implement the most accurate strategy they develop for themselves without being aware that they are serving the ultimate purpose.

Escape from Plato’s Cave is a call for setting ourselves free from the domination of social expectations, getting outside the restricted area of freedom, and questioning the possibility of ending the performance. The exhibition can be visited at Originn through 24 May.