burcu gökçek

burcu gökçek

The small bluefish are fabulous...the small bluefish are fabulous… the small bluefish are fabulous.. Fabulous! A sentence which sometimes hums repetitively and seems to have written itself into the observation book of the sub-conscious; this also forms a compilation of 9 years’ of production by Burcu Gökçek. For her first solo exhibition, Gökçek is interested in the aesthetics of the momentary. “Where is the place that is neither inside nor outside of me?” she asks by way of the strange moments into which she imprisons herself.

The video installation “the small bluefish are fabulous” and others make up the points at which Gökçek feels alienated towards the objects, people and environments she is familiar with, and where she feels she has been left hanging in the moment, thus beginning her descent into the deep. At these points Gökçek seeks symbols to help her. The slippery, ever-changing, illusive composition of a fish beckoning the memory; a bar of soap melting away; the traces of inner cleansing and purification becoming meditative. The body constantly repeats a sentence which has stuck in memory as it is moving around, changing places in the white room, cleaning the fish, washing the hands.

Gökçek focuses on a space which opens up at the point where movement loses its meaning. An in-between space where the artist stands, focuses on and observes the moment. A space the word “moment” opens up for us, which we reach through the words “meaning” and “expression”. The collages in this exhibition the frozen rooms and collages where the artist depicts corridors take on the function of absorbing the ritualistic repetitiveness of the moments on video, their meanings and expressions. It points towards space and perspective. Towards the frozen state of a movement, a state where it can only find life by means of repetition...
Although this duality can be acknowledged with its interior and exterior concepts, it only relates to the correctness of expression, the sub-conscious and the shallow.

Gökçek brings together the two halves of her inner self, her brain, her body, and her consciousness. Her drawings called “Man” which she drew with both hands as single pieces are an experiment of the boundaries of the mind which represents feelings and common sense. In “Supper” she investigates the feeling behind a meal which has been consumed, a table which has been messed up and positions which have changed from one side of the table to the other. In “Budit” we see sameness framed by difference.

Gökçek doesn’t become a mysterious artist behind her work, she draws herself into the centre of her work. She emphasizes that one can deepen the way into his inner self by various methods of association and alienation. Not by way of stories but by way of certain movements.

the small bluefish are fabulous! awakes curiosity about one’s memories of rituals. The exhibition opens at artSümer on March 1st 2012. Visiting hours are Tuesday –Saturday 11am-7pm.