Motion Transformation
THE IMAGE OF THE WOMAN ON THE BREAKING POINT OF MOTION AND TRANSFORMATION
Each work of art is the outward expression of internal emotions that dwell in nature and the depths of the human soul. On the other hand, if considered as an action, a work of art, when faced with the manual labor entangled with words and thus become puzzlingly intricate, further confuses us with the question marks penetrating our minds. Nevertheless, a work of art, regardless of the material in which it takes its form, is an entity in itself composed of the power of thought and all emotions channeled through bodily actions. In his treatise Considering the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky maintains that every work of art is the child of its age and, in many cases, the mother of our emotions. Thanks to the unique and one-time formations emerging in the artist through the storms of emotions, the stages of the development of art continue to open new horizons in or age as well. When we begin to sense these, we can realize that the artist begins to emerge as "the individual" in various stages of art and we cannot help but remember Gombrich's "There's no art but artist." Regardless of the era, the artist, exploring the material through the guidance of his emotions, has taken his place in human history, with forms modeled on nature but questioning his/her body, which is nothing but a tiny spot in the whole universe. Sculpture being the matter of speech and remembering Kandinsky's axiom that "the work of art is the child of its age" -and thus the mother of emotions-, it is safe to assume that every civilization in any period of history turns out an original form of art and trying to revive the dated principles is nothing but producing "dead art." Similarly, in terms of sculpture, trying to follow the footsteps of the artists of the ancient Greece will lead only to perfection in terms of "form." However, such an approach will not reflect the soul and enthusiasm of the times if the artist is to leave something for the future. Therefore, what can one say for the exhibition "Motion – Transformation," by the very young artist, Orkide Akkoç. There's a story here which is the starting point of the works; human forms, challenging the absolute void and the force of gravity itself by their postures and bodily existence, do have an effect not only on the artist but also on those who experience them. Another interesting point about the exhibition is that the works, accompanied by the sound of music, carry the visitors to a further dimension in terms of both physical and aural senses. Furthermore,
dedicated to a flesh and blood person, Yasemin Dalkılıç, "Motion – Transformation" has the important mission of transmitting her silent dance with the "darkness in the deep" to the future. Sculpture being the matter of speech and remembering Kandinsky's axiom that "the work of art is the child of its age" -and thus the mother of emotions-, it is safe to assume that every civilization in any period of history turns out an original form of art and trying to revive the dated principles is nothing but producing "dead art." Similarly, in terms of sculpture, trying to follow the footsteps of the artists of the ancient Greece will lead only to perfection in terms of "form." However, such an approach will not reflect the soul and enthusiasm of the times if the artist is to leave something for the future. Therefore, what can one say for the exhibition "Motion – Transformation," by the very young artist, Orkide Akkoç. There's a story here which is the starting point of the works; human forms, challenging the absolute void and the force of gravity itself by their postures and bodily existence, do have an effect not only on the artist but also on those who experience them. Another interesting point about the exhibition is that the works, accompanied by the sound of music, carry the visitors to a further dimension in terms of both physical and aural senses. Furthermore, dedicated to a flesh and blood person, Yasemin Dalkılıç, "Motion – Transformation" has the important mission of transmitting her silent dance with the "darkness in the deep" to the future.
— Thus, Orkide Akkoç adds a person's revolt against life to her art and materializes the "physical and spiritual" transformations of her body in solid substances. With her plain – or to put it more correctly, minimalist – approach both in defying the norms of gravity and the plastic language of sculpture while in search of form and in choice of material, she has managed to give form to emotional intensifications in the best manner. These two persons/women, who come from two totally different worlds but whose concerns and expectations from life meet at one common point, are bound by ties that intertwine and thus the internal tendencies of the two separate worlds meet through their "emotions and the ideals" and form a single body. The main motive behind this intense unification of Orkide and Yasemin, which could not remain limited within the walls of the young artist's workshop, is their sharing common concerns such as "resistance" and "without-borders" philosophy towards life; a stance against a life which is bordered by birth and death and whose circumstances have been determined without their consent. In this resistance against life, while one challenges life by going into the deep, to a life against her physical nature, the other challenges the gravity and the limitations of the matter which is shaped only according to certain patterns.
What both of them do is the rebellion of their souls against time. While pursuing the impossible, "rebellion" is expressed in the silence of the deep waters and the mind's reckoning with nature/man. The vibrations of the soul inside one body are thus knotted to another life's courage of going to the deep on the fine line between life and death.
— On the other hand, the mathematical laws of the universe enabled Orkide Akkoç to explore the tangential touches from a single point to the space and depict the transformation of a body seeking the depths of water. Human forms, highly abstracted and now distant from their original appearance, transcend the line separating the field of vision and go through nonrandom but intentionally designed transformations suspended in the void. While the shapes these bodies assume – from the abstract to the concrete – go through material and formal transformations, they also create a sense of slight dizziness in the observer because of the infinity of space; a proof that the artist has accomplished her intentions. Together with her intentions on form, the visual impact created by the "particles of emotions" blown towards her soul by the sensation of void/nothingness, created by the body she has taken as the model, embodies "the spiritual existence" on the surfaces where the material has taken shapes. If such a thing is considered to be a unifying spark, the image of one woman finds herself in a different world where she has no chance to live in in her feminine physique, while the other tries to take her imagination to a different dimension, beyond her own bodily formation and field of vision. The meeting point of these two women is their common motives and, most importantly, the existence of a third eye. When they are so self-obsessed and self-absorbed, this third eye observes these two ordinary lives from its own frame of reference.
Abstracting the impressions inspired by motion and especially in the shiny world of aluminum, Orkide is now moving on a path which she doesn't know where it leads and ends. She believes that the sculpture can create the space and the space can create the sculpture and there is a fine line of relationship between the two, and that's why she focuses on motion-based works by abstracting the impressions which a real life offered her. The work titled İlk Dalış (The First Dive) is the introduction to all other works in the exhibition. The element of motion we touched upon is accompanied with rhythm and we, holding our own breaths, witness that every moment Yasemin Dalkılıç invites us to her body is immortalized, starting from the moment she steps into water and begins to live there. The works on display present layers of emotions which offer the visitor a variety of sense of sight and physical touch and this effect is further stressed with the accompanying music that covers the atmosphere and moves around the sculpture. Akkoç Sabit, is thus able to separate the "human and incident", which she believes in in the emotional sense, from the rigid and static imagery of the sculpture. She creates works surrounded by a void which becomes a mysterious atmosphere under the effect of an inscrutable power. She tries to create incredibly smooth and fluid contours. It must be stated here that, with their stance resisting the laws of nature, Orkide Akkoç's works belong to a mysterious corner of the universe which is in a constant state of motion. The artist here does not fragment the works and put them into certain mathematical patterns for the sake of taking the observer as the focal point of the motion/movement. What is important for her is to make the observer sense, in the best possible manner, how a human being, in a superhuman state of motion, can change and transform both in the physical and emotional senses of these terms. That's why "Motion – Transformation" will provide us with unmatched pleasures at the intersection of visual and aural senses and will leave "deep" traces in our memories.
Dilek ŞENER, 2005
Music for "Motion Transformation"
This is the first time I have prepared a composition for an exhibition. Indeed, I prepared the musical piece as an "Electronic Symphonic Poem." In other words, it has a story to tell and it is "the musical reflection and expression of the works and everything that has been the source of inspiration for the sculptor." These compositions, which I prepared using electronic sounds, have themes such as underwater environment, the concept of digital pressure, the world record, water and immortality. We expect to reach the art lovers through the use of musical frequencies, in addition to the vision itself.
Actually, every partition of the musical composition is a musical portrait of the people taking part in this exhibition. The first part is the narration of the construction process of the sculptures by Orkide Akkoç. The second part is the musical portrait of Yasemin Dalkılıç's underwater world. The third part is the section where the world record was set and the final part reflects both my musical portrait and it is an expression of sadness and hope through the use of concepts such as water and immortality.
Can ATILLA, November 2005
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