I just read Annick's very nice post (thank you Annick!) and it has
made me want to add something to what I previously wrote. Yes, true,
Istanbul has a strong and active electronic art scene as well as a
long established plastic arts scene. I could have given these as an
example for "development". Or I could have boasted about the numerous
Jazz and Film Festivals which the city hosts throughout the year. Or
talked about the "opera for everyone" festival where operas are
performed during the summer months in all of the city parks - entrance
free. Or the millions of tulips put in the ground every year for the
tulip week which has been celebrated around here since the 16th
century...
And yes, I could also have talked about the local history of
urbanization which goes back for millenia. Istanbul is one of the
oldest cities on the globe. True enough, we Turks have been around in
Istanbul for only 500 years ;-), however we are all of us well aware
that we stand upon the shoulders of a vast tradition which goes back
all the way to the neolithic period.
However, none of these, for me, are indicators of "development" that
are as potent as the peaceful crowds around Taksim and the happy fat
pooches are. Which is why I gave them as examples, regardless of how
appropriate it might have been to do so in what is an art and
technology mailing list after all.
Oh and - there was one Turkish artist at ISEA this year - me :-D. I am
one of the co-authors of La Plissure du Texte 2 which is still being
shown at KASA Gallery:
http://lpdt2.blogspot.com/
Needless to say, being the sequel to Roy Ascott's major work from
1983, LPDT2 is not even remotely of Turkish origin. However, that
firmly said, one of her co-authors is Turkish nonetheless...
all the best,
elif
On Wed 28 Sep 2011 13:03:23 EEST, Elif Ayiter wrote:
> Cynthia, a heartfelt thank you for your correction, to which I will add
> a few words, if you will allow me:
>
> Contrary to popular belief, what you call "newly engaging more
> conversation with Western Europe/North America...", and what I
> personally prefer to call the process of democratization and
> secularization of the Ottoman Empire, did not start a decade ago or
> indeed materialize overnight in 1923 with the founding of the Turkish
> Republic, but has its origins in the first half of the 19th century,
> starting with Sultan Mecid and his extensive legal and social reforms,
> for which you can see the wikipedia entry here:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzimat
>
> As for this city "still in development": Here, an estimated 3 million
> people spend weekend nights in an area which is after all only a few
> square miles wide. You have all been there, you have witnessed it with
> your own eyes. Huge, indeed overwhelming crowds, and yet hardly ever a
> fight, a brawl, an incident... And this despite some serious alcohol
> consumption, I might add!
>
> In this city "still in development", instead of collecting them in
> shelters and then heartlessly putting them down, the city
> administration provides healthcare for its thousands of "city dogs"
> which are taken care of, fed and sheltered by shop keepers and market
> vendors throughout the city. Needless to even say, quite a big budget
> is set aside in this city "still in development" for this task, since
> the city provided animal healthcare includes a yearly booster shot for
> rabies, which is checked through an RFID system implemented through ear
> tags, with appended mobile veterinary teams etc...
>
> ;-)
> elif
>
>
>
>
> On Tue 27 Sep 2011 16:40:52 EEST, Cynthia Beth Rubin wrote:
>
>> Hi Colette and All
>>
>> I have been part of a few discussions on ISEA2011 on other lists,
>> and it is refreshing to read Colette's positive summary. It makes
>> me wish that I had chosen what to attend more carefully - and i
>> look forward to seeing more about these panels on line. So much to
>> do in so many days - and the compression led to a certain
>> overload at times, that I believe that some of the best
>> discussions to come may take place in the post-isea blogosphere.
>> I plan to create blog for the panel that i chaired, and which
>> ended up being far too compressed for the open discussion that
>> that we now envision. (an aside - we had a free google site for
>> the panel that we had planned to make live after ISE but I
>> discovered that google sites are blocked in Turkey, although most
>> smart Turkish people get around this by putting in an IP address
>> that is from another country)
>>
>> A small correction to your thoughtful post. Turkey is not "still in
>> development" - it is rather newly engaging more conversation with
>> Western Europe/North America. (by new I mean last decade, not
>> just this year). Turkish culture is quite developed, and has been
>> for centuries. I was surprised to find ISEA goers who did not
>> know/remember that less than 100 years ago Istanbul was the center
>> of a great Empire with influence that extended throughout Eastern
>> Asia and the Middle East, and into Europe. Several Turkish artists
>> that I spoke with found it distressing that those coming from the
>> countries that are now in power think of Turkey as under-developed.
>>
>> best wishes,
>> Cynthia
>>
>> Cynthia Beth Rubin
>> http://CBRubin.net
>>
>> =========
>>
>> Hi everybody,
>> I have participed to ISEA for the 3rd time (Nagoya, Singapore,
>> Istanbul), and it is still a big event in many ways and not only in
>> quantity but in the quality of programm and discussions. It is an
>> amazing brainstorming where people from so many countries can
>> exchange about so many medias and practices, and in addition get
>> some thinking, theories, and perspectives about electronic and
>> digital tools and culture.
>> Some little things that I can say :
>> - it was so important to cross electronic art (ISEA) and
>> contemporary art (Istanbul biennal) in a place, it means in a city,
>> and a city as Istanbul , that is still in development, and at the
>> junction of Europe and Asia... Now we have to know where can be
>> the junctions between these practices : are they so different,
>> are they in the same fields, are they in different economies, how
>> to think their environment, technics, modes of production and
>> diffusion ? We can see that the exhibitions for the practices and
>> conferences for the theory are still the way to present them. In
>> which kind of public area, in which modes of knowledge and culture
>> can we share our experiments and creation, thinking and theory ?
>> Can it be a way to explore the future of isea ? Can it be a way to
>> invent some new tools, new objects (as things), new spaces ? For
>> example, I was very interested by the experimentation by the
>> Collectif Nunc www.nunc.com to explore the rôle of the catalogue
>> as a way of knowledge, and creation ; and it is only one example
>>
>> - I was very interesseted too by the Mediterranean forum on digital
>> culture, and the links with the arabic revolution. It was such
>> appropriate to speak about that in an other mediterranean country,
>> and to learn about how people used the digital and global media in
>> one part of the world, that could be seen as a local revolution,
>> but concerning the total humanity. And also it would be great to
>> follow the discussion, cause : the revolution is going on and
>> needs to be thinked to be realized, and new models seem to be
>> necessary to invent. But, in that way, it is not only a local
>> problem, but a global, if we think to the difficulties that each
>> country can have with the economic crise. New medias could help to
>> these non institutionnal exchanges. And help to find ways to
>> invent a virtual global public space
>>
>>
>> At the end I want to think all the people that organized this ISEA,
>> and above all to think Baruch Gotlieb who was my panel chair
>> about The persistence of hardware. I think we have open the
>> beginning of a discussion about the electronic and digital
>> environment that concern material, energy, production, economy,
>> culture… that it would be important to follow and to developp
>> cause it is a very crucial question in the use of these
>> technology and its consequences, that is not so immaterial…
>>
>> Regards to all
>> Colette Tron
>> Marseille, France
>> www.alphabetville.org
>>
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>
>
> elif ayiter
> Sabanci University
> FASS VACD
>
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elif ayiter
Sabanci University
FASS VACD
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