Art is an indispensable passion -just like love. It’s almost impossible to think about one, without the other. Both claim your entire being until they come close to satisfying the unguardedly revealed urges. These feelings captivate you and instil a sense of passion until you fulfil them in the reality of this world. Just like love, art nestles different perspectives, states, and forms. Art is a means of expression that liberates all states and forms. Just like love, it becomes more meaningful and valuable when it’s shared. Shopi go ART, the contemporary art platform founded to serve this exact line of thinking, aims to encourage people to see art as a part of life. It’s a meeting place for creators who do not shy away from expressing their love for anything and everything that feels good. Here are five artists whose works are on display at shopi go ART.
Building his reality by piecing together the pictures he takes in his studio with the photographs he collects from junk dealers, Cankat Kalyoncu instils meaning in the objects he chooses and transforms them into authentic symbols.
What does “love at first sight” mean to you? You’re walking towards a magnificent view in the last days of spring in the Aegean region. There’s the sea, the warm sun, and earth.
Suddenly, the sky grows darker, and the light disappears behind the clouds for a moment. You know that the fierce summer rain will come down soon. While looking for a fig tree to take shelter under, you are struck by lightning. You’re scattered but stunned because you’re breathing with a smile on your face.
Do you think physical attraction is enough on its own? No need to be dishonest so, yes.
Introduced to photography at a young age by his father, Can Dost ztürk has been interested in analogue photography ever since. The artist creates unique collages with pictures in various concepts.
Is love a phenomenon we exemplify through a parental relationship? Before it comes to love, we mostly exemplify mutual respect and space through our parents. By this the child observes, for the first time, how to communicate in a relationship; all the definitions and concepts that follow are either weaved in this context or destroyed because it conflicts with it.
If you were to set a golden rule for love, what would it be? I don’t think it’s my -or anyone’s- place to set one rule for love itself, but I can say something for the individuals experiencing it. No matter what, there can’t be anything they can’t talk about with their partners. With healthy communication, everything can be resolved. At least, this is the foundation of the concept of love for me.
Begüm Yetiş photographs people from various age groups, cultural and racial backgrounds, and her works continue to emphasize the contemporary concept of eroticism by enunciating body, sexuality, and gender.
Is this work about abandonment, or beginning a new love?
This work has a one-sided perspective; we don’t know if someone is lying beside them. It’s one of those moments that mostly go unnoticed but are routine. It reflects the emotional weight of the void in this physical space. This can very well be a new beginning or a separation -maybe it’s the weight of that person…
Which state of love inspires you most from an artistic perspective?
The good days in a relationship are pleasant but the harder days are more influential. That emotional confusion, one’s ambition to express themselves, the effort to find a solution are all sentiments that lead the way for art and the creative process.
An interdisciplinary artist, Maral Taşkırıcı scales the plastic practice by creating new surfaces for patterns in her ceramic works.
To what extent does love mean compromising oneself? How much of an effort is necessary?
Love is fluid, and it finds new paths. It doesn’t require an outside intervention. The kind of relationships that substantially require making an effort for aren’t just romantic ones, friendship is also one of them. Once you start compromising, the sole point you can reach is self-alienation. I think it’s necessary to occasionally take a step back and reflect inwards. It’s a big effort to maintain relationships, and I believe it’s important to balance this effort on both sides.
How open-minded should we be towards love based on the adjective “fogey?”
Each love has its own dynamics. Nothing stays the same, as it was at the beginning, and neither does love. So, you should be open to change, to new forms. To be open-minded, you need to distance yourself from prejudice and empathize. We shouldn’t be afraid to experience different feelings. At the end of the day, the more open-minded you are, the more fun you have.
Arslan Sükan is a multidirectional artist who ponders on the ideas that question the limits of human perception and the borders between the physical and the virtual, the visible and the invisible.
If love had a colour, what would it be?
I think it would be transparent.
Do you think love changes based on culture, or does it have a universal language?
I believe love to be universal.