Worrier
5-channel video installation
48' 23" / 43' 11" / 55' 54" / 56' 06" / 60' 29"
2013
For this project, I was commissioned by ARTER—a private contemporary art museum in Istanbul—to attend five sessions with a psychotherapist to discuss my anxieties about being an emerging artist. In these sessions, which are presented in their entirety in a five-channel video installation comprising a labyrinth of colourful but claustrophobic rooms, questions such as these were raised: “What if I’m not creative enough to be a good artist? What makes a good artist good? What would I do if I decided not to pursue an artistic career? Why do I envy successful people, and would artistic success make me happy? Of what consequence is my work to others?”
Although the presence of the cameras initially resulted in visible moments of self-editing during our sessions, both myself and the psychotherapist eased into our mutually vulnerable situation over time, and candid conversations ensued. While presenting myself as a case study of a young artist's personal insecurities and worries about the future, what was inadvertently exposed through these intimate conversations was the hierarchical, institutionalized and extractive 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.
