It's not easy to stand in my spot
I seem to sense the call of other spots
Yet could my standing-in-a-spot be called just that
When that spot I stand in will not stand still
Özdemir Asaf, Electronic
Aslı Narin’s first solo exhibition Spin is about the artist, having set out on the road with no purpose of destination, searching for what is constant in nature and within herself. At points where she pauses along her path, Narin captures distinct moments as photographs and videos. In these monochromatic, almost abstract images, the essence of matter momentarily appears to become visible; nature and the body reveal their secrets. The movement of the path, of light and of water remind the viewer of the impossibility of remaining in a single spot, and the inevitability of returning to a point of origin.
Özdemir Asaf’s poem titled Electronic is the most important source of inspiration in Narin’s research process. As a science, electronics is based on the principle of the movement of electrons (free electrons dragged towards a magnetic field form an electrical current). In this sense, the dynamic structure of the atomic universe implied by the title of the poem enables us to view the desperate search of the self from a physical and universal perspective. Why do we seek stability, while the world we inhabit, and in fact, the universe itself, revolves and flows? What happens when that state of equilibrium is disturbed? Balance lost, disrupted, drifting towards uncharted territory, where do the oscillations of the self take us? It is perhaps these lines from T.S Eliot's Four Quartets that best shed light on these questions posed by this exhibition: “We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.”
The sound production of the video installation titled “Tours” in the exhibition was carried out by Emre Malikler. Elif Gül Tirben is the guest curator at Kasa Gallery for Aslı Narin's first solo exhibition Spin.
Guest Curator: Elif Gül Tirben
Exhibition dates: January 24 – February 22, 2014.
Address: Kasa Galeri Bankalar Cad. No: 2, Karaköy, Istanbul.
Visiting hours: 10:00 – 17:00 every day except Sunday.
Opening event: January 24, at 18.00.
About the Artist
Aslı Narin was born in 1985, and she graduated from the Department of Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design at Sabancı University. She completed her master’s degree in the same field at Goldsmiths College, University of London. For the last two years she has been teaching at the Department of Graphic Design of the Faculty of Art and Design at Kadir Has University. Narin continues to work on her PhD at the Proficiency in Art Program of Yıldız Technical University.