nothing personal: observations on consumer society

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Midpoint Proposal: 1st | Midpoint Proposal: 2nd
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Observation #1: An individual's subjectivity is created in the end of a political process. The powers [politics, media, social and cultural rules, capitalist companies, etc.] force individuals consciously, subconsciously and unconsciously to accept and desire the power itself. This process follows a two-directional movement. The capacity to create individuality, as a human quality, is being forgotten while replicas of a generic persona are being built. This process will end up with a new product, a common persona that spreads in a society disregarding individuality. The result is a society containing human replicas having no authority over their own lives.

Observation #2: In line with Postmodern theorists, I find in order to have an authority on one's life, it is necessary to break all the given rules that build a personality and then to construct oneself again with individual preferences. Foucault's declaration, " We have to abandon the creator subject and especially abandon subject itself, that means we must analyze the creation of subject through a historical framework,"* is a clarification of my own observations.

Observation #3: In this new environment, there is a major society that shares a common taste and another minor society, a sub-society that carries postmodern qualities, existing in fragments instead of a union. Outsiders, artists, punk and gothicism are examples of alternative and individualized life styles that are showing resistance in a decentered form, against normalizations of power, inside the affected society.
*Best, Steven - Kellner, Douglas [1991] Postmodern Theory, The Guilford Press.

Analytical Projection of Personal History

I draw a last memory, a portrait of Istanbul, just previous to my departure. I dedicated my final project to the metropolis that raised me. Istanbul was a geographical, architectural, financial, cultural and social depiction of the metropolitan. Psychologically, it was a consolidated projection of all my emotions that are related to the city.
In addition to the awareness I expanded during Istanbul project, I was faced with a new aspect of city life within a couple of months following my arrival to the new society. My adaptation process within a new society having different ethical and social rules, gave me the oversight to define the space in which I once stood. This recognition led me to an analysis of basic emotional and behavioral modifications enabling me to uncover social mannerisms and their sources.
Throughout the past year, reflections of this progress took different forms in my subsequent works.

• The cast plaster buildings, narrow in bottom wider on top, narrated a reverse perspective in perception caused by lack of space within the city and the feeling of living in an environment covered with large cement blocks.
  
• The bronze piece with a burnt wooden element, depicted the feeling of Einsturzende Neubauten, usually translated in English as "Collapsing New Buildings". It differs from the previous work by showing motion through a hollow construction, fragility of material and a delicate balance. It captures the inevitability of collapse, staged at a moment of heightened tension, in addition to optical illusions that create distortions in form.
• The set of coffee beans in which each piece wraps an extremity such as a neck, wrist or finger, was a reaction to the caffeine addiction of the society, and its descriptive power over social rituals. The addictive power of the situation is based on the addiction of the prescribed life style more than the chemical [caffeine], itself. The visual outcome of my work in this case, could be read as being too appealing, overshadowing the subconscious dark side of the whole coffee ritual of the society. Therefore, it was a proper representation of consumerism or moreover an object of consumerism in and of itself, with a glossy surface concealing the desire to consume. The whole concept behind the social ritual surrounding coffee was the first punch in my face toward realizing the power of consumption.
• Overwhelmed with the amount of pennies, leftovers of a hypnotizing marketing method in which products are labeled in values that end with ".99". Residues of frustration caused by the irresistible leaks of new imagery that surrounds me, created the core of a new evolution in my work. "Penny Graveyard" was a phrase stuck in my mind, which found its form at the end of three months. Penny Graveyard and The Hidden Penny projects, both encapsulated the subject of these subtle marketing techniques.

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