BURAK
Maçka Sanat Galerisi
November 01 – December 13, 2011
Curator: Nazlı Gürlek
Collector Artist Network: Phase II (2011) is the second phase of an ongoing data collecting and mapping research project on the “nature” of the society of art. In the process of generating the data, each collector in the map was asked to convey a list of artists in their art collection. these lists of shared artists connect the collectors on the diagram, which organizes itself by running as a software simulation. The names naturally find their position on the screen through connecting forces, revealing the central actors, indirect links, and tight clusters.
Collector Artist Network: Phase II aims to reveal and question one of the fundamental dynamics of the society of art, the relations of artists and collectors. Arıkan investigates the art world which depends on status, privilege and secrecy via contemporary technological systems that rely on principles of free access, open sharing and participation. The first phase of this long-term project is in the permanent collection of the Borusan Contemporary Museum in the Perili Köşk. In the second phase of the project, the collectors and artists affiliated with Maçka Art Gallery are added to the network. While the static map of the network is displayed in antechamber that face the street, in a second area inward to the gallery, there is an interactive section where viewers can further navigate the network on a computer and find the cross-sections of the research process.
Artist Talk
Tuesday, November 29, 6.30 pm
Network Mapping Workshop
Wednesday, November 30, 10:30 – 16.00
Right after his workshop that he will carry out as an invited guest of the Performa Biennial in New York, Burak Arıkan will hold a full-day workshop in Istanbul where complex networks will be modelled with mapping and visual analysis. The networks will be developed step by step from basic forms to more complex ones. Participation is limited. Those who would like to join should e-mail graphcommons@gmail.com by November 24th and attend the workshops with their laptops present. The information regarding the location will be announced to the participants through e-mail.
Founded in 1976 by Rabia Çapa & Varlık Sadıkoğlu and ever since with its courageous and avant-garde perspective acted as a significant contributor to the development of contemporary art, Maçka Art Gallery, celebrates its 35th anniversary. In the honour of this anniversary, the gallery is organizing a series of solo shows between September 2011 and June 2012, titled BENGU BURAK VOLKAN ALP ELMAS IZ curated by Nazlı Gürlek. Each show introduces recent works of the most talented young artists from Turkey, Burak Arıkan, Volkan Aslan, Alp Klanten, Elmas Deniz, İz Öztat commissioned by the gallery. Named after the first names the artists, the series of six solo shows underlines the different areas of interest, themes and methods of the artists as well as pondering on the ‘myth of the artist’ that the international art apparatus consistently nurtures.
Collector Artist Network: Phase I is the first phase of an ongoing data collecting and mapping research project on the “nature” of the society of art. Each collector in the map was asked to contribute a list of artists in their art collection; these lists of shared artists connect the collectors on the diagram, which organizes itself by running as a software simulation. The names of the artists and collectors naturally find their position on the screen through connecting forces, revealing the central actors, indirect links, and tight clusters. As more data is collected, the piece will continue to evolve, showing in greater depth the relationships held between artists and collectors as well as between artists and collectors respectively.
Collector Artist Network: Phase I is presented as an interactive projection on a multitouch wall screen, allowing the viewer to further navigate the network and explore relationships more in depth.
Seven New Works
Sep 17, 2011 – Dec 11, 2011
Curators: Mario Codognato ve Sylvia Kouvali
Bourusan Contemporary
Meta-Control performance with Kalustro at Gaîté Lyrique in Paris. For the first time, Meta-Control will be performed on a U shaped screen setup.
September 16th, 9pm
Gaîté Lyrique Grande Salle
I created a new work as part of the Becoming Istanbul project, opening tomorrow at SALT Beyoğlu in Istanbul. The internal dynamics of Becoming Istanbul’s database as a whole, not visible in individual navigations, is interpreted as an animated network map, a work deciphering the relationships between concepts and time.
Becoming Istanbul explores contemporary Istanbul through an interactive database of over 400 media. An up-to-date collection of artists’ videos, photography series, documentaries, news reports, cartoons and architectural projects, the database is organized according to 80 concepts that instrumentalize typical discourses relating to the city and suggest new points of view. Its media include the visual productions of artists and researchers who have problematized actors and phenomena typically disregarded in urban discourse, as well as the declarations of decision makers involved in Istanbul’s current transformations.
The conceptual framework of Becoming Istanbul was set by Pelin Derviş, Bülent Tanju and Uğur Tanyeli in 2008. The trio also edited the publication Becoming Istanbul, a multi-authored critical dictionary published in Turkish, English and German. Two other books published as part of the project were Tracing Istanbul (from the air), edited by Meriç Öner, which discussed the causes and effects of changes in Istanbul’s urban texture based on the aerial photographs of Oğuz Meriç; and Mapping Istanbul, co-edited by Pelin Derviş and Meriç Öner, a visualization of the city through aerial maps. Designed by Evren Yantaç and developed by Hüseyin Kuşçu, the interactive database is already online and will remain fully accessible as a contemporary urban archive after the exhibition is over.
The graphic and spatial design of these projects, to be presented on SALT Beyoğlu’s second and third floors, is carried out in collaboration with design firms Project Projects and Superpool.
Shots from the Becoming Istanbul Concept Network Movie
Network Mapping and Analysis Workshop, General Assembly, New York
Wednesday, August 10th from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
http://www.generalassemb.ly
Network mapping is a popular and highly creative medium. From the popularity of The Tipping Point’s theories about social networks to the widely heralded infographics on nytimes.com, industry leaders are turning their knowledge of trends into engaging visuals. This two hour workshop will help students understand complex networks of information through mapping and visual analysis.
Beginning with simple, hands-on drawing exercises, participants will gradually learn how to build complex compositions on a computer program. The workshop will cover network modeling, relationship types, visual analysis, centralities, clustering, and information design. Students will learn through a combination of observing, sketching, collaborating, and participating in group discussions.
The workshop will consist of two parts: Part I will cover how to map networks, and Part II will teach students how to analyze them. Students will use Graph Commons for visualization and group collaboration exercises. There are no prerequisites.
Register here:
http://networkmapping.eventbrite.com
* Photo from the Ulanbator Workshop, 2011.
One day workshop focusing on the design and understanding of complex networks through mapping and visual analysis. Starting from hands on simple drawing exercises participants gradually build complex compositions on the computer. Emphasis on network topology, relationship types, information modeling, visual analysis, centralization, and clustering. Participants learn the most through observing, sketching, collaborating, and participating in the discussions.
Graph Commons will be used for the exercises.
http://graphcommons.com
Lecture/Workshop: Jul 4th, Monday, 11:00-16:00
Venue: Xanadu Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia http://xanaduartgallery.org
Organization: Open Academy, Arthub Asia
View photographs from the workshop.
Time: Talk/Lecture: June 28th, Tuesday, 19:00-21:00
Workshop: June 29th, Wednesday, 19:00-22:00
Venue: Xindanwei, 50 Yongjia Rd., Shanghai
Cost: 30 rmb/person/night, coffee and tea served
Organizer: Xindanwei, Arthub Asia
One day workshop focusing on the design and understanding of complex networks through mapping and visual analysis. Starting from hands on simple drawing exercises participants gradually build complex compositions on the computer. Emphasis on network topology, relationship types, information modeling, visual analysis, centralization, and clustering. Participants learn the most through observing, sketching, collaborating, and participating in the discussions.
Graph Commons will be used for the exercises.
http://graphcommons.com
More info
http://xindanwei.com/lang/en/2011/06/network-mapping/
View photographs from the workshop.
Two day workshop focusing on the design and understanding of complex networks through mapping and visual analysis. Starting from hands on simple drawing exercises participants gradually build complex compositions in the computer. Emphasis on network topology, relationship types, information modeling, visual analysis, centralization, and clustering. Participants learn the most through observing, sketching, and participating in the discussions.
Graph Commons will be used for the exercises.
http://graphcommons.com
PART I: How to map networks?
Graph theory, relationship types, network topologies, modeling
May 11th, Wed
10:00-16:00
PART II: How to analyze networks?
Centralization, clustering, structural holes
May 12th, Thu
10:00-16:00
Address:
ITU Architecture Dept.
Taşkışla, Istanbul
See more about the network mapping and analysis workshops:
http://teaching.burak-arikan.com/creative-networking
The World Social Forum 2011 took place in Senegal February 6th to 11th. Its slogan “Another world is possible” proved especially resonant as anti-government protests shook Egypt during that time. Developed since the first forum in Porto Alegre 2001, the 11th forum in Senegal’s capital Dakar brought together civil society groups from around the world to coordinate world campaigns, share and refine organizing strategies, increase offensive capacity, develop in depth understanding of current struggles by informing each other about social movements from around the world and their issues, and finally develop peer-to-peer alternatives to current models of capitalism.
Photo © Abdullah Vawda/IPS TerraViva
World Social Forum is inherently open, egalitarian, self-organized, and thrives on free speech; as opposed to the secretive, exclusive club World Economic Forum held in Davos the week before. World Social Forum 2011 had 75,000 participants from 132 countries organizing around 1,200 activities. From the small west African grassroots farmers’ associations to the large European NGOs, unions, movements, organizations, intellectuals and artists, together we built a great alliance in Dakar, different from the dominant logic wherein the free-market and money are considered the only measure of worth in Davos.
On the opening day of the forum, caravans of participants rolled into Dakar, bringing groups from from Mali, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Dakar to mark the opening of the forum. Activists from Senegal were joined by people from across the world with a mass of multilingual posters and slogans in French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, English and others.
Over the five days, participants choose from simultaneous plenaries and over hundred workshops. Based in and around the campus of Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), forum discussions and events hosted in auditoriums, classrooms as well as in tents and around ad-hoc gatherings. It was an “open space” for discussion, convergence and alliance-building. There was no formal process for creating and announcing an event, some did posters, some used SMS, emails, and online services. In fact, word of mouth was the best medium for announcements. Although anyone could find a room or tent and propose a meeting, programmed talks and press conferences were held continually; it was impossible to know of all the events which happened. There were also films, art projects, concerts, and dancing.
Translation of documents and signage were limited (mostly French) due to local resources and organizational capacity of the university. For many, it took a day or so to figure out navigation and reading programs. On the other hand, we enjoyed the random serendipity and chance happenings, that I met my great inspiration author and social activist Naomi Klein in of those tents.
Ubiquitous Internet access is a must for such big self-organized meetings. If we had more wi-fi spots in the UCAD campus, event the most random gathering would have better participation.
In the second day, former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade gave a talk at a parallel conference, at the Place du Souvenir, 7 February. Lula, was the centre of attention, he told that “Global Finacial crisis proves that capitalism is broken.” and added “To the G20, it seems as if there is no problem, and we never talk about unemployment.”
Taxation of financial transactions is one of the main topics, mostly led by the French association ATTAC. France’s Socialist party leader Martine Aubry was a speaker with former Senegalese minister Mamadou Faye at the launch of the campaign to end financial secrecy in tax havens by multinationals, which civil society groups say deprive developing countries of billions in revenue. The launch of ‘End tax haven secrecy’, by civil society organizations from three continents: Christian Aid, CCFD-Terre Solidaire, Latindadd, Oxfam and the African Tax Justice Network. At Oxfam’s Robin Hood event petitions are signed on three long banners to be sent to three ambassadors in Senegal: Germany, France and United Kingdom, urging them to make sure their country will adopt taxes on financial transactions and banks as soon as possible.
On the third day, fishermen and participants from the World Social Forum converged on the streets and on the coast by the Frontex office in Dakar, for a demonstration against the EU border agency. They said that “the border patrols off the coast of Senegal are forcing pirogues to turn back on the open sea, which threatens migrants seeking to make the journey to Europe and to local fishermen who take to the coastal waters to earn their living.” In fact, on the east border of Europe, same Frontex issues with Turkey’s Aegean sea border.
Along with the climate, water, and food crisis, the loot of multinational extractivists in Africa was another big focus in the forum. Multinational corporations make deals behind the scenes with the corrupt governments all over in Africa and get exclusive rights on the extraction of natural resources, which in fact belong to the people, not the government. Those mining and metal companies also get the cheapest electricity in the world, while civilians struggle with constant electricity cuts. Big resistance to multinational extractivists in south and west Africa, which is similar to what’s happening in Turkey, the most recent Vermeyoz movement against the privatization of natural resources.
While the chain of revolutions in Magreb were being discussed in one of the forums, Turkey mentioned as the Islamic democracy model for the Magreb nations. But quickly, the rising neoliberalism in Turkey came into focus, that it was clearly naive to think Turkey as an ideal model for Magreb while we are discussing counter strategies for neoliberalism.
I met the impressive Tostan group, grassroots educational development organization, in one of the tents in the forum. They empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights. Their aim is to increase community engagement in projects related to health and hygiene, child welfare, human rights and democracy. They apply non-formal education techniques to teach technology (e.g., using a mobile phone menu, solar fireplace cooking, solar cellphone charging) and civil rights to people in the rural regions. As one of the results, villagers started doing demonstrations and demanded new rights from the local government.
Open Source Do-it-yourself Washing Machine Design, by Bricolabs
In Africa, free libre open source software (FLOSS) and do-it-yourself technology is not an alternative, it is the norm. Ubuntu, Drupal, Pure Data, Android are some of the projects/systems adopted rapidly by the tech savy youth. No iphones, macbooks, or app stores here, people develop their own tools based on their needs. People learn the most through creative workshops, like artist Karen Dermineur’s ateliers all over in Africa, and through self-realized or community projects. Do-it-yourself washing machine by Bricolabs was one of the most interesting projects presented in the Open Source for Civil Society session. It is obvious that open source ideas and processes are both a need and inspiration for the civic development in Africa.
I met three artists, who were sharing a stand and collaborating in the forum area. Edi’s life time civil trash decomposition practice, Pascal Nampemanla Traoré’s Plastiqueman statue along with great plastic take on the traditional African masks, and Kyd Campbell’s do-it-yourself recycling vertical garden project. Together the experience is a hybrid of civic tools and artistic statements.
Two nights in a row, we ended up at the club Just4You, enjoyed the local bands from Dakar, Wolof hiphop, and Senegalese drum Mbalax. This club was across the street of a Turkish Islamic school called Yavuz Selim. In fact, Turkish Airlines has direct flight to Dakar, no wonder.
I will give a talk today on the two network maps exhibited at Arter’s “Second Exhibition” in Istanbul. “Network of Foundations and Corporations Through Shared Board Members: Turkey Edition” and “Network of Artists Who Exhibited Together: ARTER “Second Exhibition” Edition”.
With this talk, I will open the data of the two network maps to public, searchable and reusable on www.graphcommons.com, and for the first time talk about the new Graph Commons project.
