SiS – In the blink of a bird

“In the blink of a bird” is the product of a collaborative work initiated by a group of individuals who pursue the possibilities of collective production, and reflect on the ways and methods of thinking, acting, departing and deciding together. It is an exhibition expanding through invites and participations based on the conceptual and structural basis constructed by Selda Asal, Özgür Atlagan, Fatma Belkıs, Şafak Çatalbaş, Elmas Deniz, Borga Kantürk, Evrim Kavcar, Yasemin Nur, Sevgi Ortaç, Gümüş Özdeş, Gökçe Süvari, and Merve Ünsal. Onur Ceritoğlu & Berk Asal.

Current contributors are Ali Miharbi, Artıkişler Collective, Emre Birismen, Atalay Yeni, Azra Deniz Okyay, Bengi Güldoğan, Burak Delier, Ceren Oykut, Didem Erk, Emine Ekinci, Ezgi Kılıçaslan, Florian Wüst, Göksu Kunak, Gülsün Karamustafa, Güneş Terkol, Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, İrem Tok, İz Öztat, Julia Lazarus, Komet, Lara Ögel, Mehtap Baydu, Merve Kılıçer, Nihan Somay, , Özgür Erkök Moroder, Özlem Şimşek, pad.ma, Sasha Povzner, Sevim Sancaktar, Suat Öğüt, Sümer Sayın, Yasemin Özcan & Sena Başöz.

Performance: 10.06, Saturday, 18:00

This collective initiative, gathered under the title of ‘sis’ (Turkish word for ‘fog’) with the joining and disjoining of participants, has projected on the old and new tools and devices of visibility, presence and articulation, and perused printed material such as manifestoes, minutes, directives, letters and fanzines. They looked at the ways and methods of making decisions and judgments, as well as the verbal patterns and spatial arrangements produced around these ways and methods. Setting out from this day and this geography -yet disregarding borders- they reflected on violence and tonguelessness. They questioned how the wave of oppression and censorship will transform what is to be produced and said today. The collective seeks to continue to discuss the production of a shared reality, of a probable ‘now’, and the possibilities and impossibilities of collective action.

The section shown on the first floor of Depo is the “Incoming Papers” shaped around printing and reproduction instruments such as mimeograph and risograph. The second floor hosts the section entitled “Television” which is constructed as a television studio where the settings of various TV shows are reproduced. These two main axes of the exhibition will continue to expand throughout the duration of the exhibition with new participations adding to the current joint and invited works, will enable new encounters, rendering the production process visible.

The production process of In the blink of a bird was accompanied by a performance work. This performance, which will be featured as part of the exhibition, intends to keep record of the discussions on the ways and methods addressed, as well as the questions and concerns that shape the exhibition. The text of the performance will be produced as a hand-made manual that can be used as a map of the exhibition.

In the blink of a bird is an exhibition expanding through invites and participations based on the conceptual and structural basis constructed by Selda Asal, Fatma Belkıs, Şafak Çatalbaş, Elmas Deniz, Borga Kantürk, Evrim Kavcar, Sevgi Ortaç, Gümüş Özdeş, Gökçe Süvari, and Merve Ünsal.

Current contributors are Ali Miharbi, Artıkişler Collective, Atalay Yeni, Azra Deniz Okyay, Bengi Güldoğan, Berk Asal, Burak Delier, Ceren Oykut, Didem Pekün, Didem Erk, Emine Ekinci, Ezgi Kılıçaslan, Florian Wüst, Göksu Kunak, Gülsün Karamustafa, Güneş Terkol, Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, İrem Tok, İz Öztat, Julia Lazarus, Komet, Lara Ögel, Mehtap Baydu, Merve Kılıçer, Nihan Somay, Onur Ceritoğlu, Özgür Atlagan, Özgür Erkök Moroder, Özlem Şimşek, pad.ma, Sasha Povzner, Sevim Sancaktar, Suat Öğüt, Sümer Sayın, Yasemin Özcan & Sena Başöz, and Yasemin Nur, with new names adding in the course of the process and the exhibition.

SiS is an artist collective. In each stage (in every exhibition, performance and intervention) different artists join the collective.

As a sustainable collective, SiS aims to continue to exist, expanding and shrinking as is appropriate. SiS is trying to produce a shifting model of production, trying to adapt to the changing political, cultural, and social conditions. The works produced and the practices employed at every stage of the project are transferred onto the next stage. A corpus of production forms the collective itself over time.

Artists from Istanbul, Izmir, and Mardin came together in July 2016 in the Berlin space of the Apartment Project. Over the course of the one month spent living and thinking together, the conceptual framework was formed, focusing on visibility, presence, taking a position or not, mobility. Zines and collaborative films were produced along the way.

Main Team: Belkis Isik, Borga Kantürk, Elmas Deniz, Evrim Kavcar, Gökçe Suvari, Gümüs Özdes, Merve Ünsal, Selda Asal, Sevgi Ortaç

The final products are a performance text,
artist publications, declarations, a television station
and an exhibition.

The listed products are not prior to each
other but they are constituted on the
same plane, relating to each other.

HisTV

-The television channel of ’SiS’- His Tv is employed to bring artist works that use television programme as a form. Television programmes are produced at the set constructed within the exhibition space both before and during the exhibition, contributing to the flow of information during the course. Keeping record of contemporary memory creates a medium that can continue after the exhibition as well.

HisTv Produktion Team:

Selda Asal, Özgür Atlagan, Elmas Deniz, Gümüs Özdes, Safak Catalbas,

Design: Berk Asal IT :Emre Birismen