While the shade of a tree is being stolen away, bodiless organs sit in the enormous gaps of the drained earth. Under the constant noise of unseen machines, disjointed body parts touch the drying soil and breaths are only audible to insects. In this quiet, distorted world, old songs of goodwill are sung: “Future times of vain sorrow do not disturb our gentle sleep…” While we are waiting for the miracle to come the sand continues to fly. “VOID” explores the possibility of connecting sensuously to environments devastated by human intervention, such as an open coal mine in Lower Lusatia. Instead of placing the subject in the center of attention as an “identity”, the body itself transforms into a landscape and the landscape becomes the protagonist.
Biography
Senem Gökce Ogultekin work spans the disciplines of choreography, performance, vocal work and film. In 2019, “Dun/Home” was chosen for Artist´s Film International, an international event initiated by Whitechapel Gallery in London and was shown at various museums and galleries of the world. In 2020, Senem Gökce Ogultekin was awarded the Allbau Foundation Culture Prize and was appointed to the Young College by the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2021.
Levent Duran is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. They studied sociology at Istanbul University and film at the Fine Arts University of Hamburg, where they obtained their master’s degree. Their writings have been published in major magazines and newspapers in Turkey, and their visual creations (video, painting, sculpture, installation) have been exhibited internationally. Their film project “Murmuring Draft Dodgers” received the Courageous Citizen Award from the European Cultural Foundation.
