Monovacation is in 11th Sharjah Biennial, 13 March – 13 May 2013.
Monovacation
2013, custom software, projection (300×120 cm), digital print (180×120 cm), video (42 inch LCD screen)
Monovacation cordially invites you to “the vacation” of vacations… The official tourism commercials of countries in competition with each other have been selected and each film has been divided into the possible tiniest clips. The clips, 3-4 sec long by nature have been coded with tags. Through a network diagram which run as a software simulation, these tags are connected to each other via shared clips have found their positions on the map. Then, a new sequence have been generated through a traversal in the network map, jumping from one node to the closest, following the path of the most central tags. Shores from Egypt to Portugal, woman from Israel to India, mythological figures from Thailand to Turkey here comes an extracted fantasy of “vacation”…text continues below
It is a three part installation:
Projection: Official tourism commercials of countries which are competitors of each other, used as data and presented in grid form (excerpt)
Digital Print: Network map of tags created by content analysis of each commercial, where blue nodes represents the traversal paths used for editing the new video
Video: Generic video of a vacation edited with the analysis of the network map of concepts and clips (excerpt)
Monovacation
Zeynep Gökay Üstün
Monovacation cordially invites you to “the vacation” of vacations… The official tourism commercials of countries in competition with each other have been selected and each film has been divided into the possible tiniest clips. The clips, 3-4 sec long by nature have been coded with tags. Through a network diagram, which run as a software simulation, these tags are connected to each other via shared clips and have found their positions on the map. Then, a new sequence have been generated through a traversal in the network map, jumping from one node to the closest, following the path of the most central tags. Shores from Egypt to Portugal, hospitality from Australia to Ukraine, nature from Spain to New Zealand, woman from Israel to India, mythological figures from Thailand to Turkey here comes an extracted fantasy of “vacation”…
Tourism is a vicious sphere of competition in the world economy. This situation forces the countries possessing touristic values to act like corporations. The 2012-2013 Tourism Report of the World Economic Forum evaluates and ranks 144 countries and assumes a position within the global context. The countries in competition take the pulse of each other and use every trick in the book to impress the visitors; huge investments, airport constructions, chain hotels, loyalty programs, business world, and many other attractions as such. Turkey, in this context is one of the countries that attract tourists. Among its competitors there are countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Egypt, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Morocco, Thailand, China, UAE, Taiwan and India. 144 countries trying to captivate the tourists and ruthless competition… Monovacation uses 20 official tourism TV commercials randomly selected out of these 144 countries as its material.
The image appears in the commercial videos of the countries with tourism value. Each film hails another subjectivity, from place to place employs the same imagery and from time to time idiosyncratic elements. The representative images in visuals do not only show the countries assets also builds an ideal understanding of vacation for the subjects. While they are defining a subjective position for the tourist, they also point to all sorts of “should’s” from how and with whom we should have fun, how we should rest, to which view or historical structure we should admire. While the efforts to shape the vacation through the subjectivity of the tourist render these movies almost the same, the trademark geographical and cultural values seem to be wrapped up and marketed. The countries are being stripped off all other qualities and are being brought to a common ground. These commercials, which usually last one to three minutes summarize the countries real quick and try to catch attention and on the other hand give a promise to satisfy all the vacation needs of the tourist, so they collaboratively construct a fantasy of vacation.
Splitting these commercial films into the tiniest pieces and having another gaze at each separated clip channels us into a much convenient path than breaking the routine, instead it reinforces the routine and make it much apparent. Thus, positioning the tags post-coded and attached to each clip in a network map enables one to read this construct of vacation. Yet above all, such a map allows one to discover the most central concepts and representations and to invent a generic vacation commercial. A fantasy which overrules other fantasies of travelling, a fantasy where the steps of discovering a new place are predetermined and a fantasy where the patterns are being reproduced… Monovacation, this construct that we know is generic, forms an extracted fantasy of travelling not to the countries but to the travel itself.
In this context Monovacation is a work composed of three pieces: (1) Official tourism commercials of Turkey and its competitors on a grid, (2) Network map of representation similarity generated by the content analysis of the tourism commercials, (3) Generic film reedited with network analysis.
This work was prepared for the purpose of VitrA Contemporary Architecture Series: Please Do Not Disturb exhibition realized in 2013.
“Please do not disturb”
VitrA Contemporary Architecture Series Presents
Istanbul Modern, February 7th – April 7th 2013
Curator: Ertuğ Uçar
Coordinator: Pelin Derviş
Artists: Burak Arikan, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar, Nermin Er, Meriç Kara, Metehan Özcan
Mono-vacation
Mono-vacation cordially invites you to “the vacation” of vacations… The official tourism commercials of countries in competition with each other have been selected and each film has been divided into the possible tiniest clips. The clips, 3-4 sec long by nature have been coded with tags. Through a network diagram which run as a software simulation, these tags are connected to each other via shared clips have found their positions on the map. Then, a new sequence have been generated through a traversal in the network map, jumping from one node to the closest, following the path of the most central tags. Shores from Egypt to Portugal, woman from Israel to India, mythological figures from Thailand to Turkey here comes an extracted fantasy of “vacation”… text continues below
It is a three part installation:
Projection: Official tourism commercials of countries which are competitors of each other (excerpt)
Digital Print: Network map of representation similarity generated by the content analysis of the tourism commercials (blue nodes represents the traversal paths used for editing the new film)
Video: Generic film reedited with network analysis. (excerpt)
Monovacation
Zeynep Gökay Üstün
Monovacation cordially invites you to “the vacation” of vacations… The official tourism commercials of countries in competition with each other have been selected and each film has been divided into the possible tiniest clips. The clips, 3-4 sec long by nature have been coded with tags. Through a network diagram, which run as a software simulation, these tags are connected to each other via shared clips and have found their positions on the map. Then, a new sequence have been generated through a traversal in the network map, jumping from one node to the closest, following the path of the most central tags. Shores from Egypt to Portugal, hospitality from Australia to Ukraine, nature from Spain to New Zealand, woman from Israel to India, mythological figures from Thailand to Turkey here comes an extracted fantasy of “vacation”…
Tourism is a vicious sphere of competition in the world economy. This situation forces the countries possessing touristic values to act like corporations. The 2012-2013 Tourism Report of the World Economic Forum evaluates and ranks 144 countries and assumes a position within the global context. The countries in competition take the pulse of each other and use every trick in the book to impress the visitors; huge investments, airport constructions, chain hotels, loyalty programs, business world, and many other attractions as such. Turkey, in this context is one of the countries that attract tourists. Among its competitors there are countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Egypt, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Morocco, Thailand, China, UAE, Taiwan and India. 144 countries trying to captivate the tourists and ruthless competition… Monovacation uses 20 official tourism TV commercials randomly selected out of these 144 countries as its material.
The image appears in the commercial videos of the countries with tourism value. Each film hails another subjectivity, from place to place employs the same imagery and from time to time idiosyncratic elements. The representative images in visuals do not only show the countries assets also builds an ideal understanding of vacation for the subjects. While they are defining a subjective position for the tourist, they also point to all sorts of “should’s” from how and with whom we should have fun, how we should rest, to which view or historical structure we should admire. While the efforts to shape the vacation through the subjectivity of the tourist render these movies almost the same, the trademark geographical and cultural values seem to be wrapped up and marketed. The countries are being stripped off all other qualities and are being brought to a common ground. These commercials, which usually last one to three minutes summarize the countries real quick and try to catch attention and on the other hand give a promise to satisfy all the vacation needs of the tourist, so they collaboratively construct a fantasy of vacation.
Splitting these commercial films into the tiniest pieces and having another gaze at each separated clip channels us into a much convenient path than breaking the routine, instead it reinforces the routine and make it much apparent. Thus, positioning the tags post-coded and attached to each clip in a network map enables one to read this construct of vacation. Yet above all, such a map allows one to discover the most central concepts and representations and to invent a generic vacation commercial. A fantasy which overrules other fantasies of travelling, a fantasy where the steps of discovering a new place are predetermined and a fantasy where the patterns are being reproduced… Monovacation, this construct that we know is generic, forms an extracted fantasy of travelling not to the countries but to the travel itself.
In this context Monovacation is a work composed of three pieces: (1) Official tourism commercials of Turkey and its competitors on a grid, (2) Network map of representation similarity generated by the content analysis of the tourism commercials, (3) Generic film reedited with network analysis.
Hacktivizm, İnternet, Teknoloji ve Sanat
Özgür Uçkan, Burak Arıkan, Ali Miharbi
26 Ocak Ctesi 14:30 Empire Project
http://www.facebook.com/events/121112174729636/
The Empire Project’te Dr. Özgür Uçkan’la Sanat Felsefesi Konuşmaları serisinin sonuncusu 26 Ocak Cumartesi günü galeri oditoryumunda gerçekleşecek. Burak Arıkan ve Ali Miharbi’nin de konuk konuşmacı olacağı yedinci ve son bölüm, “Hacktivizm, İnternet, Teknoloji ve Sanat: Hack the Art” başlığı altında olacak.
Özgür Uçkan’la Sanat Felsefesi konuşmaları 14:30 ile 17:30 saatleri arasında The Empire Project’in oditoryumunda gerçekleşecek olup, ilgili olan herkese açıktır.
Bu konuşma serisi, sanat felsefesinin belli başlı teorilerini sanatın bugünü ve geleceğiyle bağlantılamaya ve onları bu bağlamda yeniden okumaya odaklanmaktadır. Çünkü, geçtiğimiz dönem, sanat ve felsefe arasındaki bağın zayıflamaya yüz tuttuğu, hatta sanatın teoriden uzaklaşarak neredeyse endüstriyelleştiği, belli prototiplerin tekrarına dönüştüğü ve atıl hale gelen sanat kurumsallaşmasının kadük ideolojilerinin boyunduruğuna girdiği bir süreyi işaretlemektedir. Sanatın teoriyle, felsefeyle, politikayla olan asli ilişkisini yeniden düşünmenin zamanıdır…
Serinin önceki konuşmaları
http://www.ozguruckan.com/kategori/sanat/36252/dr.-ozgur-uckanla-sanat-felsefesi-konusmalari
* Fotoğraf: 15 Mayıs 2011′de Internet yasaklarına karşı yürüyüş.
I will be participating in a panel discussion on art institutions and societal networks at Westfälischer Kunstverein in Münster. The focus will be on decentralized institutionalization and funding systems for art.
SELLING SNAILS IN THE MUSLIM NEIGHBORHOOD
Marwa Arsanios, Dilek Winchester
Westfaelischer Kunstverein
Münster
Thursday, January 10, 2-5 pm
STAMMTISCH 1: INSTITUTION & STRUKTUR
Welcome: Dr. Ursula Franke (board), Introduction: Zeynep Öz (curator), Statements: Katja Schroeder (ex director, Westfälischen Kunstverein, Burak Arikan (artist, Istanbul), Dr. Babara Könches (head visual arts, Arts Foundation North-Rhine-Westphalia)), Prof. Ayse Erkmen (artist, Berlin), Heiner Diehle (ex head of board, Westfälischen Kunstverein).
Friday, January 11, 2-5 pm
STAMMTISCH 2: INSTITUTION & KULTURELLE BILDUNG
Statements Lara Khaldi (Kuratorin, Ramallah/Beirut), Sanne Orthuizen (Programmentwicklung, Casco, Utrecht), Dr. Ulf Wuggening (Soziologie, Lüneburg)
Samstag, January 12, 5 pm
STAMMTISCH 3: PERFORMANCE – EIN PORTRÄT DES KÜNSTLERS ALS JUNGER MANN
with students from the Westfälischen Wilhelms University and the Academy of Fine Arts Münster
ONGOING: BOARD GAME SESSION – PHANTOM BILDUNG
In the format of a three-day performance the artists Marwa Arsanios (Beirut) and Dilek Winchester (Istanbul) will examine the model of the Kunstverein as a German entity: It researches the origins, the financial and administrative structure, the social role and impact of this specific art institution through the example of the Westfaelischer Kunstverein. The project questions more generally the impact as well as the role of the art institution in a time of speedy institutionalization and shifting art funding and art market realities. The title Selling Snails in the Muslim Neighborhood is a saying in Turkish, and refers to the interaction between the presenter and its audience; thereby, formulating a call for a proposal on the ways in which the art institution could interact with its local and otherwise audiences. The project and the performance put the German concept of the ‘kulturelle Bildung’ at the center of its argument for constructing a specific narrative around the role of the art institution known as the Kunstverein and as constructed in this local context. The exhibition takes the concept of the Stammtisch as a proxy for the idea of the ‘Bildung’, and as such replicates the format of the “Stammtisch” with varying participants in the restaurant of the local brewery Pinkus Müller.
Curated by Zeynep Oz and Katja Schroeder
Venue: Pinkus Müller, Kreuzstraße 4-10, 48143 Münster
Please register by phone or email, admission free: +49 251 46157, info@westfaelischer-kunstverein.de
A documentation of the event will be presented after 16 January in the exhibition of the annual edition at Hüfferstraße 36, 48149 Münster, opening hours Wed – Sun 1-7 pm, admission free
I will be participating in the Nam June Paik Award exhibition along with Cevdet Erek, Florian Hecker, Thomas Köner, Gisela Motta and Leandro Lima, Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas, and Carlos Fadon Vicente. The exhibition will take place at Kunstmuseum Bochum between Nov 1st, 2012 and January 13th, 2013.
Showing a new work at the Istanbul Design Biennial. Islam, Republic, Neoliberalism comprises of three network maps where mosques, republican monuments/ museums and shopping centers dispersed throughout Istanbul connect to each other within their areas of influence. These maps present a comparative display of network patterns that are formed through associations linking those architectural structures that represent the three dominant ideologies –Islam, Republic, Neoliberalism– in Turkey.
Scroll down for the catalogue text.
Network of Mosques connected through overlapping call to prayer sounds of 3000+ mosques in Istanbul (image below is an excerpt, click on the image to enlarge).
Network of Republic Monuments connected through physical proximity of the republic monuments/museums in Istanbul (image below is an excerpt, click on the image to enlarge).
Network of Shopping Malls connected through overlapping range of reach of the shopping malls in Istanbul (image below is an excerpt, click on the image to enlarge).
Islam, Republic, Neoliberalism
Zeynep Gökay Üstün
Mosques, the monuments and museums of the republic, and shopping malls… These constructions are physical spaces that surround us through the axis of contemporary Turkey and the city; that signal us where we are, where we were born, what to value and believe in, what to appreciate and who we are as agents; that constantly invite us to articulate with and experience them.
Even if we do not engage in every urban space in the city, we encounter invitations that we cannot dismiss. As the republican monuments that rise in every square and the museums of the republic that frequently come in our way remind us the concept of nation and keep a certain rhetoric alive, monumental shopping malls invite us to become relentless consumers. And we encounter the mosques, perhaps most frequently. With their highly familiar forms and by triggering our audial and visual senses, they somewhat remind us how strong and deeply rooted they are. Beyond their functional and physical value and as symbols of the ideologies that they sustain, these constructions remind us their existence and power within our urban life in various ways and remain eternal and fresh in our daily lives.
Despite the fact that their reflections in urban architecture are relatively humble and low-paced, changing equations are echoing in the city as a consequence of the nature of ideologies. Even though physical spaces do not flex and bend easily, different meanings are being attributed to the same constructions, selective perceptions of the agents are changing, or certain constructions can simply be abandoned. Simultaneously, new symbolic spaces are being constructed and they rise as the definitions of new entities of meaning.
Given this context, Islam Republic Neoliberalism targets three fundamental ideologies that are most resilient and powerful in contemporary Turkey. The demonstration of physical relationships that these physical constructions establish with each other, via a network diagram, reveals a more powerful line of argument than simply designing a geographical map. Going beyond their quantity and the frequency of their salutations to the agents of the city, it renders the spatial power and network pattern of these ideologies susceptible to analysis.
IDEAS CITY: Istanbul is a three-day conference featuring a series of workshops organized by the New Museum, in conjunction with the first Istanbul Design Biennial and the Audi Urban Future Initiative. The conference will be a primary resource for identifying key issues around this year’s overarching festival theme of Untapped Capital, while further developing an active network of international colleagues.
Hasköy İplik Fabrikası
11 October 2012
2-6pm
I will be participating in the “Structures and Networks” panel with Aslı Aydıntaşbas (Columnist, Milliyet), Adam Greenfield (Founder and Managing Director, Urbanscale), Yancey Strickler (Cofounder, Kickstarter), and Anthony Townsend (Research Director, Institute for the Future). The panel will be moderated by Marc Kushner (Architect; Cofounder, Architizer).
The second discussion, “Collaboration and Exchange,” will include panelists Yaşar A. Adanalı (Urban blogger: Mutlukent (Happy City) and Reclaim Istanbul), Rupali Gupte (Founding Member, Collective Research Initiatives Trust), Selva Gürdoğan (Architect; Cofounder, Superpool), and Suketu Mehta (Author; Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University). Artist Pedro Reyes will moderate.
Truth is Concrete 24/7 marathon camp on artistic strategies in politics and political strategies in art organized in Graz, September 21-28, 2012. I am contributing with two network maps below –being exhibited in the hall– and a tactic talk titled “Network as a Medium of Critique and Action” on Sep 25 Tuesday, 8pm at Black Cube.
Collaboration Network
Click on the image to enlarge.
Truth is Concrete participants were asked to provide a list of other marathon participants that they’ve worked with in the past. These lists of collaborators are then turned into a network map of collaborations. The map includes 186 names connected via 1030 lines that represent collaborations. The size of the names is based on “betweenness centrality”, a metric to show how often a node appears on shortest paths between nodes in the network, often referred as “bridge quality”. Colors represent clusters based on the density of inter-connectivity, which describes how the network is compartmentalized into sub-networks or communities.
The network map organizes itself by running as a software simulation, where the names naturally find their position on the canvas through connecting forces, revealing the central actors, indirect links, tight clusters, structural holes, and outliers.
Tactic Similarity Network
Click on the image to enlarge.
Each participant in the Truth is Concrete marathon was asked to provide a list of tactics they’ve been using in their practice. These lists of tactics are then turned into network map of 749 unique tactics connected through shared use. The size of the tactics is based on “betweenness centrality”, a metric to show how often a node appears on shortest paths between nodes in the network, often referred as “bridge quality”.
The network map organizes itself by running as a software simulation, where the names naturally find their position on the canvas through connecting forces, revealing the central actors, indirect links, tight clusters, structural holes, and outliers.
Participating in the Sommerakademie 2012 at Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern with guest curator Marta Kuzma, fellows, speakers and the extended community. Workshops, lectures, river rafting, cooking, and tasting Swiss goodies.
Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks
— 3rd Leonardo satellite symposium at NetSci2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Northwestern University in Evanston/IL
http://artshumanities.netsci2012.net
The abstract of my keynote:
“The network does not exist, it has to be created” *
If the network does not exist and one has to capture this complexity, what happens when we capture it? Do we move from a territory of network to a map of network or vice versa? In Deleuze and Guattari’s words does the network diagram function to represent something real, or to construct a real that is yet to come? I will discuss this dialectical tension of territory and map in the context of networks and in relation to my recent work: MyPocket (2008), network maps of the art world (2009-2012), and the Graph Commons platform.
* Quote from Jussi Parikka in “Summary from some Networkpolitics 2010-conference themes“. March 2010.
