absencexpresence

“absencexpresence” focuses on Aslı Narin’s and Gurkan Mihci's 24-hour-experience on Eastern Express train journey, from Ankara to Kars. The artists took off with the intention of collaboration and art production. As Maurice Merleau-Ponty claims that the painter changes the world into paintings by lending his body to the world, Asli Narin and Gurkan Mihci takes this phenomena to its maximum in their collaboration. This one day self-held residency under the name of “Moving Atelier” which was a project found by Asli Narin and continued later on with other projects, questions the effects of constant motion and the limitation of time and space in art production. Lawrence Weschler aims this kind of production method “radical self limitation” and discusses its positive effects for new works for artists. In this experimental situation, the train became both the studio and the material for the artists. By recording both sound and image constantly and separate from each other, the artists’ aim was to create a mutual/joint body of work of their experience of the train journey. Taking the inspiration from the changes of the mood-especially with the light- between the day and the night journey, the short film is an spontaneous abstraction of these moods and feelings. Immersed in constant motion, the artists' bodies were exposed to many sounds and images in flux. This flux is taken in fragments and converted into sound and image compositions in a new flow.

Year

2018

Director

Asli Narin, Gurkan Mihci

Duration

14 min

Country

Türkiye