Breathing

Hüseyin Gökçe

translated by Zeynep Nur Ayanoğlu

 

 

As of the early works of Yunus Emre Erdoğan, a silence echoes inwards. Things are silent in a solitude that is audible in the position of the objects in relation to each other and in the space that determines this. The distance between the objects reveals their aura and allows them to breathe. Meanwhile, the shadow seeps into these spaces with its own force. Not all of a sudden, but by accumulation. First a warm breeze and then silence accompanies it. The dialectical opposition between interior and exterior begins to blur with borders that open up and dissolve from inside to outside. A place that implies that it is inside and a place that looks outwards obscure this border. Who is looking becomes unclear. The presence of a window does not separate the outside from the inside. It opens the inside towards the outside. Instead, a gaze directed from space and objects envelops us. Objects organized vis-à-vis each other and according to the function of the space linger in their own spaces. It is the eye that lingers along with the object. These distractions in the object save the gaze from the pornographic, directing it to the erotic. Things make themselves visible by covering themselves.

 

In his first solo exhibition titled "Sounds of Secrecy", Yunus Emre Erdoğan focuses on the sounds that objects can create using the void of their own world in a minimally presented space by entering into a dialogue with the interior. In "Horizon of Things", he searches for the horizon phenomenon in the appearances of objects. It is shown that a horizon can be perceived about objects as the distance between them is adjusted. On the one hand, things become visible, on the other hand, many invisible things due to the horizon accompany this moment. It can be said that dramatic elements form the aura of the works during the whole process.

 

Considering phenomenological and ontological problems and forms of expression, the artist produces images through objects with minimal space descriptions. In addition, sufistic sources have a share in the formation of the works in some series. In Cosmic Room, he creates some of his works with the Sufi concept of "seyr-i sülûk", that is, entering a path. Combining this approach with humanity's space adventure and subconscious desire, he transfers to paper the visuals in scientific encyclopedia and printouts from the internet. "Sounds of Secrecy" deals with this understanding with a phenomenological approach based on Abdülkadir Geylani's work "Futuhu'l Gayb", in which he provides some information in terms of method for those who want to master secret sciences. He uses it to perceive the invisible and unknown worlds of objects. However, in these series, there is no tendency as to how the memory of a traditional image can connect with the present. Rather, he dwells on image production as a possibility to present itself in a meditative atmosphere in the relationship between space and object. Or again, he is in a search on the existence of sound and silence through space and object.

 

The forms of life and the forms of art differ from each other at some point. And when spirituality gets involved, a new dimension comes into play and things change still more. Since Yunus Emre Erdoğan cares about this dimension, when he uses a white paper, he reviews the possibilities offered by the material as well as his own limits and focuses on dichotomies such as subject-object, existence-absence, inside-outside, light-shadow by taking into consideration the possible effects of emptiness. In works created through such a network of relationships, dualities are not seen as a problem, and the selves are allowed to complement and integrate each other. They all strive to form a perception within themselves, in the relationship they establish with each other and in the moves they make towards each other's borders.

 

Thanks to this sensitivity, the artist does not neglect to take into consideration an understanding of the ability of the selves to breathe. While this poetic sensibility is felt once again and more deeply in Breathing, the relationships that spiritual experience can establish with the world are encapsulated. In contemplative searches, the poetic expression of the beings that breath in the universe is observed by wending one's way towards another kind of aesthetic experience. In addition, while drawing a trajectory of the self and the world from ontological and incorporeal quests, it offers the opportunity to experience possible dimensions on the border of breathing and panting.

 

Breathing is one of the most important components of vitality for every being, and there are varying forms and dimensions of breathing in terms of maintaining liveliness. For, the nature might tell another story. Everything in nature is dependent on another's breath. This is deadly as is vital. Often breathlessness unfolds as an inevitable part of this process. This reality differentiates the contact of the lines on the surface of the white paper. Each line can be interpreted as an infinite number of inhalations and exhalations of an infinite number of breaths. Sometimes it is combined with the condition and difficulty of existence in the world with the huff and puff of every living being. As is well known, gasping often turns out to be the sole reality of existence. Fear and desire are sutured into all these dynamics. This is a common destiny that every living being experiences. Therefore "life-death and eroticism are one". This unity and functionality can be experienced in some automatic-abstract works. In this sense, if we examine some works carefully, we can hear the breathing of an animal that has retreated to its cave, as well as the breathing of another animal searching for the breath and scent of an animal on a vast plain.

 

Similar to the surrealists' "automatic-writing" experience who mobilize all possibilities of the subconscious to get rid of the structure called consciousness or the abstract expressionists' "automatism" experience, Yunus Emre Erdoğan surrenders himself to the vibrations of emptiness in automatic-abstract drawings for spiritual pursuits. In spontaneous and random abstractions, "invisible forces" come into contact with the void. Thin lines lighten the emptiness so much that the environment becomes still and turns into a timeless place. Silence appears as a potential within this moment.

 

The void manifests itself by refusing to be reduced to any form or representation, while at the same time not remaining merely as a void. While the void fluctuates between contrasting colors, it breathes in between. Not only that but the artist also addresses the problem of what to do with a white paper consisting of layers and intervenes in the paper in order for the void to reveal infinite possibilities. The paper is excavated so that it can breathe. The surface multiplies by diminishing. It grows wings as it becomes lighter. Everything clings to each other's void.

 

While everything is intertwined, complementary and integrated, there is always an incompleteness in contact with the world. At any given moment, the world is actually a different place from the world we understand, see, hear and feel, which contains great richness. It can cause dizziness and a slight loss of balance. But it also has a tense and dramatic aspect. The incompleteness of the contact and the state of mind it creates is approached with a broken cane, which we can call the cane of the dervish. Referring to the need to return to oneself in order to find what is missing, Georges Bataille states that "the self" is not a subject isolated from the world, but rather a field of communication where the subject and the object fuse. Perhaps what we seek is a fusion that results in a failure to find oneself in the place of return. In addition, both this broken cane and the work Ah in the exhibition refer to metaphysical searches and absence, and the understanding that everything is a whole is conveyed in an abstract expressionist way.

 

Yunus Emre Erdoğan's desire to provoke seeing what is behind the visible through his endeavor to conceal or cover up things presents itself once again in Breathing, but this time in a different way. It can be said that the way he showcases the notebooks in which he draws patterns or makes sketches, which he carries with him all the time to maintain his hand's drawing reflex is a product of this understanding. The colors of the completely closed notebooks suggest that something about the content can be deduced from the way they have been put together.

 

A closer look at some of the notebooks reveals scratches protruding from the pages. The artist's charcoal scrapes, which resemble automatic abstract patterns, offer something of their own. If we think like an archaeologist, a trace in each layer is related to other layers. Each layer contains the signs of the others.

 

However, as it is not possible to open these layers here, some assumptions can be made based on the visible scrapes. Considering the artist's interest in space and objects, an idea as to the content is drawn from the notebook covers, which are presented to us like a secret. There is something in these traces that provokes the eye. It leads to imagination. Just like Pierre Bayard's surprising and thought-provoking observations in his book How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read. Bayard aims to console those who read books all the time, who complain that there will never be enough time within a lifetime to read all the books ever written. He says that not reading is a creative act. Instead of reading books one by one, he suggests exploring the context and relationships between books. Undoubtedly, Bayard's approach raises the question of how we read what we read. The context of the text in itself and the relationship it establishes with other texts is only related to how we read. Yunus Emre Erdoğan hints about the content of the notebooks through the relations we are to establish with his practice, thus offering a playful experience of seeing and looking. In some of his works he includes notes witnessing the moment of production, thus explaining that production does not take place on a pure white surface; behind the surface exist moments, thoughts and notes that have consciously or unconsciously influenced, guided or maybe had no influence at all on the production. These help us to witness and experience the formation process of the work presented in a monolithic manner.

 

Throughout the exhibition, something accompanies us in the heart of hearts. We are haunted by a rift between the infinity of the universe and the silence of the graves. By dwelling for a while on the nature of breathing in this interval, one can feel melancholic, eerie and gloomy as well as joyful and exuberant at the same time. Lyrical emotions can be felt and ways of infiltrating life can be discovered thanks to the structure and symbolic meaning of a broken cane, in addition to playful and aesthetic experiences in the exhibition. As a finite being, one can infiltrate infinity this way just as well.