Worrier
5-channel video installation
48' 23" / 43' 11" / 55' 54" / 56' 06" / 60' 29"
2013
For this project, Taşdelen was commissioned by a contemporary art museum in Istanbul to attend five sessions with a psychotherapist to discuss his anxieties about being an artist. In these sessions, which are presented in full in a five-channel video installation that resembles a labyrinth of colourful but claustrophobic rooms, questions such as these are raised: “What if I’m not creative enough to be a good artist? What would I do if I decided not to pursue an artistic career? Why do I envy more successful people, and will I be happy if I am successful myself? Of what consequence is my work to others?”
Although the presence of the cameras during the sessions initially results in visible moments of self-editing, both Taşdelen and the psychotherapist appear to ease into their mutually vulnerable situation over time and candid conversations ensue. As the project explores a young artist's personal insecurities and worries about the future, it becomes clear that what is inadvertently exposed is the hierarchical, institutionalized nature of the world of contemporary art.
Relevant links:
A Ritual of Selfhood - critical essay by Misal Adnan Yıldız
ArtAsiaPacific - review by HG Masters
Haset, Husumet, Rezalet - interview by Merve Ünsal (in Turkish)
Worrier was commissioned by the Vehbi Koç Foundation through ARTER, Istanbul, 2013. Installation views: Envy, Enmity, Embarrassment, ARTER, Istanbul, 2013. Photos by Murat Germen.
Please scroll to the bottom of the page to watch one of the sessions.
