"Timeless Curiosities", where Nescafé supports young artists through its exhibition sponsorship, can be visited until August 11, 2024.
Focusing on digital culture, the "Timeless Curiosities" exhibition brings together artists whose works contain original elements and demonstrate innovations in their productions while preserving their experimental perspectives. Nescafé is the sponsor of the exhibition, which reflects the digital transformation affecting our lives from the perspectives of the artists who witnessed this process.
The exhibition includes the works of 16 artists, artist duos and artist collectives who embrace digital culture as a regular element in their research processes and prioritize testing new technologies. Works that deal with the issues that art has focused on since cave paintings, with the influence of digitalization, are examined as productions that will carry the history of art from today to the future. “Timeless Curiosities” physically presents various images and expressions, along with the production styles we are used to seeing mostly in online channels and digital applications, within the museum, with the works of artists who handle them with different methods.
In the exhibition curated by Ümit Mesci and Nilay Dursun, Cem A., Atıf Akın, Ozan Atalan, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar, Mehmet Berk Bostancı, Cihad Caner, Yasin Arıbuğa-Toprak Fırat, Beste İleri, Alican İnal, Yelta Köm, Ebru Kurbak, Oddviz, Özcan Saraç, Ahmet Rüstem Ekici-Hakan Sorar, Meltem It includes works by Şahin and Berkay Tuncay that use physical and digital expression tools.
Works reflecting the effects of digital culture
Providing information about the exhibition, curator Ümit Mesci, "The works in 'Timeless Curiosities', which especially contribute to the production of young artists, center on subjects such as nature, history, architecture, city, identity and society, which have been prominent in art production throughout history. Works that reflect the effects of digital culture are from the early periods of art history." "It is examined as the present-day link of a narrative chain that can be followed as a whole today," he said. Mesci also said:
"The exhibition aims to record how the expression techniques enabled by digitalization transform artists' perspectives on different themes. Focusing on questioning and asking questions rather than reaching absolute conclusions, the exhibition makes visible the unique elements in the artists' research and expressions."
Award-winning projects meet the audience for the first time
Stating that the "Young Productions in the Field of Digital Art" program, carried out by Istanbul Modern with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, was effective in the research and development process of the exhibition, curator Nilay Dursun pointed out that with this project, the museum brought together young artists who continue their production in different disciplines, focusing on digital productions. Dursun continued:
"The program we implemented while the preparations for the opening of our new museum building were ongoing, was the beginning of the multifaceted works that Istanbul Modern will realize with young artists. During the program, the projects prepared by the participants and focusing on Istanbul, especially the region where the museum is located, were also evaluated within the scope of the exhibition. Among the projects that won awards and received production support, we are presenting Yasin Arıbuğa-Toprak Fırat's "Random" and Beste İleri's "SENTIMAP Istanbul" to the audience for the first time in this exhibition.”
Support for young artists through the exhibition
Noting that Nescafé supports young artists through the "Timeless Curiosities" exhibition, Nestlé Turkey Beverages Business Unit General Manager Hüseyin Necdet Kalkan said, "As Turkey's most popular coffee, Nescafé, we are happy to accompany not only coffee lovers but also artists and art lovers with our Nescafé Gold brand. Istanbul "Through our sponsorship of Modern's new exhibition 'Timeless Curiosities', we are introducing art lovers to how young artists handle the technological transformation in every field. We will continue to realize works in which we support the creativity and productivity of young artists," he said.
It is discussed in three frames
The works in the exhibition, which relate to the main titles in Istanbul Modern's collection, are brought together in three frameworks with no clear boundaries between them.
The first section of the exhibition, which offers the audience the opportunity to re-evaluate familiar subjects from different perspectives, sets out from the new narrative possibilities enabled by digitalization. Focusing on language and expression, the department focuses on new critical thinking habits brought about by digital tools.
The second title in the exhibition examines the discussion areas of digitalization and constantly transforming technological tools on the axis of nature and history. Artists who produce works that come together with this orientation use the guidance of artificial intelligence and similar technologies while examining fields such as archeology and philosophy at the intersection between science and art.
The last area in the exhibition gains meaning in the context of architecture and the city. The sensory landscapes of Istanbul and the sometimes ignored components that make up the city topography are analyzed with the help of digital tools. In this context, the exhibition, which includes works that focus specifically on the museum and its immediate surroundings, offers different experiences to the audience.
Special productions for the exhibition
In “Timeless Curiosities”, 8 works by 7 artists and artist duos meet the audience for the first time. Other works adapted to the exhibition space in order to respond to the intellectual infrastructure of the exhibition enrich the expansions of the exhibition. The works of Cem A., Atıf Akın, Mehmet Berk Bostancı, Yasin Arıbuğa-Toprak Fırat, Beste İleri, Alican İnal and Meltem Şahin in the exhibition meet the audience for the first time. Parallel events are planned for the exhibition, supported by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Istanbul and Goethe-Institut Istanbul. Istanbul Modern Store also brings together a selection of products specially prepared for the exhibition with art lovers.
WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION
CEM A. - “Ground Works”
The Instagram account @freeze_magazine is at the center of Cem A.'s research, whose two works will meet art lovers for the first time in "Timeless Curiosities". The artist's applications on signs for the exhibition within the scope of his series titled "Ground Works" suddenly appear before the audience at different points in the museum and point out unexpected warnings. Cem A.'s intervention on the mirrors in the museum, titled "You Are the Real One (Mirror)" (2024), establishes a connection between internet culture and the space of the museum.
ATIF AKIN - “Teaching the Alphabet to a GAN (Adversarial Generative Network)”
Atıf Akın's work titled "Teaching the Alphabet to a GAN (Adversarial Generative Network)" (2024), which will meet the audience for the first time, is based on the video "Teaching the Alphabet to a Plant" (1972) by conceptual artist John Baldessari (1931-2020). Joseph Beuys, one of the artists of the Fluxus movement, (1921-1986) "How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Rabbit?" This video, which can be analyzed together with the performance of (1965), develops around Akın teaching the alphabet to a computer with an artificial intelligence.
OZAN ATALAN - “EEKKOO”
The work titled “EEKKOO” (2020) makes visible the dialogue between Ozan Atalan's main research areas and the concepts on which the exhibition focuses. Digitally recorded nature is exhibited together with a physical installation with similar visual qualities with the help of various devices and programs. One of the most fundamental discussion areas of art, the concept of mimesis , that is, imitation or emulation, finds new analysis possibilities with installation.
KEREM OZAN BAYRAKTAR - “Skins”
“Skins” (2019-2024) consists of images in square prism units produced by Kerem Ozan Bayraktar using techniques such as three-dimensional modeling or photogrammetry. Dealing with real, natural or artificial objects along with animals, Bayraktar interprets these beings outside the usual genetic and structural classifications. In this context, the artist makes visible the formal interaction of any object and a mammal.
MEHMET BERK BOSTANCI - “Concave”
Mehmet Berk Bostancı's work titled "Concave" (2024), produced for "Timeless Curiosities", draws attention as a drawing machine. With the work he designed on the basis of the question of whether art can be produced independently of humans, Bostancı also attaches importance to questioning the deterministic qualities of machines, that is, those that do not allow for randomness. Underlining that the structure of the universe we live in is much more complex than it seems, the artist focuses on the creativity potential revealed by opposing forces.
CİHAD CANER - “I, Green Marble; The History of My Testimony and Memory”
“I, Green Marble; The History (or Story) of My Witness and Memory” (2020) is based on the wall that Caner saw behind the speakers at the United Nations General Assembly. The wall, built with marble brought from Italy, displays an effort to narrate history against colonialist understanding. In order to remind the character of historiography that offers a limited perspective, the artist puts the first two letters of the word "history" in the original English name of the work in parentheses and emphasizes the remaining word "story".
YASİN ARIBUĞA and TOPRAK FIRAT – “Coincidence”
The software prepared by Yasin Arıbuğa and Toprak Fırat processes images coming from 50 different points in Istanbul and presents them to the viewer as a live collage that constantly transforms with the installation titled "Coincidence" (2024). With the work they designed, Arıbuğa and Fırat create a multi-dimensional installation that invites the city to dialogue while questioning how much Istanbul, which is expanding at an unforeseen pace, allows the interaction between the different cultural ecosystems it hosts.
COMPOSITION FORWARD - “SENTIMAP Istanbul”
Beste İleri offers a critical perspective on maps and proposes a new cartography method supported by digital applications. With his project “SENTIMAP Istanbul” (2024), the artist deals with archived newspaper news from 1970 to the present through a database. The work meets the audience as an emotion map created by artificial intelligence trained to locate the dominant emotions in Istanbul through semantic affinities in the texts.
ALICAN İNAL - “Museum of Lost Voices”
"Museum of Lost Sounds" (2024), produced by Alican İnal for "Timeless Curiosities", brings a sound archeology research focusing on Karaköy to the exhibition. In the soundscape of Karaköy, designed as a two-component installation, a digital ecosystem prepared by visualizing sound-related data and a sculpture produced with a 3D printer can be seen. Sculpture and video bring to the exhibition space how sound can be expressed as static and physical or dynamic and digital.
YELTA KÖM – “are you here too?”
Yelta Köm's "Are you here too?" His installation titled (2023) brings an archaeological find from the future to the exhibition hall. Cables and circuits torn from technological devices return from the future to the present as objects from a different era, in a transparent filler. The work, which comes from a place that does not exist and perhaps from a time that will never exist, reinforces the feeling of alienation through pieces removed from their context.
EBRU KURBAK - “Reinventing the Spinner”
The work titled "Reinventing the Spinner" (2023), supported by the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Arts) art and technology fund, focuses on women's labor and the skills of nomadic cultures, with which Ebru Kurbak can directly relate to her own identity. The artist, who dreams of spinning thread with flax fibers in a zero-gravity environment, shares the results of the experiment he conducted by participating in a parabolic flight organized by the MIT Space Exploration Initiative in the exhibition area.
ODDVİZ - “Kadıköy I”
In “Kadıköy I” (2018), Oddviz presents street furniture, sculptures in public spaces, historical monuments and other urban components to the viewer in a random arrangement. The work, which can also be interpreted as a city archive, examines the change and transformation in elements such as graffiti and street furniture, which are often ignored and not included in the urban memory. “Kadıköy I” stands out as the first work in the inventory series that the collective continues by focusing on different cities.
ÖZCAN SARAC - “Ethics”
In his work titled "Ethics" (2014-2024), Özcan Saraç uses the binary number system defined by 0s and 1s. The work selected for "Timeless Curiosities" from the series in which the artist focuses on important turning points in history is presented in a new context for the exhibition. Saraç prioritizes the audience's discovery process with "Ethics", selected from the series in which Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, the notes of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and Hitler's speech in Munich are converted into codes.
AHMET RÜSTEM EKİCİ and HAKAN SORAR - “Dead/Death Masks”
Ahmet Rüstem Ekici and Hakan Sorar's installation titled "Death/Death Masks" (2023) brings the artists' research on sceomorphism to the exhibition. Artists who scan their own images and transform them into masks use current technical possibilities, unlike ancient craft processes. The masks, which are shaped layer by layer using a 3D printer using Anatolian mud, are baked and carry the faces of their owners to the future, just like in the ancient world.
MELTEM ŞAHİN - “particles of matter”
"Parts of matter" (2024), produced for "Timeless Curiosities", depicts the story of the storm god Marduk and his grandmother, the goddess Tiamat, in the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish, from a new perspective. The artist questions traditional mythology with her alternative narrative that allows Tiamat to form the universe on her own, without a masculine power. In his work, the artist uses lenticular printing, which has a similar production approach to GIFs, and borrows his ornamentation vocabulary from Mesopotamia.
BERKAY TUNCAY - “Poems from Relaxation Videos”
Three visual poems from the series produced by Berkay Tuncay under the title "Poems from Relaxation Videos" (2018-2024) are composed of words and exclamations that are constantly repeated in meditation and yoga or relaxation videos. Tuncay borrows the formal language of CAPTCHA applications produced for the internet environment, where it is most difficult to detect the difference between computer and human behavior in the process of turning poems into images.
