Refik Akyüz & Serdar Darendeliler
ON 'DEĞİŞ TOKUŞ'
‘Değiş Tokuş’ (interchange/exchange in English) stemmed from the idea of artists producing works in solidarity with one another in different cities they could not travel to due to the pandemic that started in early 2020. Twenty participants, who were selected for the first round of ‘Değiş Tokuş’ by the open call launched in cities where Spaces of Culture operates and their environs, submitted project proposals in pairs following the introductory meeting and brainstorming sessions. 6 duos, i.e 12 artists from İzmir, Diyarbakır, Mardin and Şanlıurfa, made it to the second round and carried out their projects. ‘Değiş Tokuş’ took place from May till November 2021 and was made possible in cooperation with Lütfü İrdem from Diyarbakır, GAPO from İstanbul and No 238 from İzmir, and by support from Spaces of Culture.
Although there are famous artist duos/teams like that of Pierre et Gilles, Broomberg & Chanarin, Luke & Nik, Pascual + Vincent, Bernd ve Hilla Becher, AES+F, who produce and sign works together, photography tends to be regarded as a relatively individualist branch of arts. In cinema, close kin to photography, it is possible to talk about a more collective sense of production. The division of labor between the producer, director, cinematographer, and cameraperson is more apparent in cinema. On the other hand, most photographers undertake all aspects of their production, from planning stage to shooting, themselves - except for editorial or commercial shootings. There are surely exceptions to this rule such as Gregory Crewdson, who approaches photography like a director in cinema, and works with large crews in sets where their roles are defined beforehand. Crewdson believes that the image itself is the most important component in photography, so he sets on a journey to create the image he is searching for while technical aspects of the production are left to the team in charge. In certain interviews Crewdson even admits not liking to hold a camera in his hands. But there are exceptions to every rule, and Crewdson is one of them. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it is not common among photographers to consent to leaving the production stage of their idea in the hands/eyes of someone else or to be remotely involved at this stage.
The early pandemic was marked by cancellation of all flights and restrictions brought to traveling. During this period, the artists brought creative solutions to produce the editorial projects they had undertaken or to document the state of lock down/restrictions. Photographers have conducted shootings by giving directions to people who were not necessarily photographers over applications such as FaceTime and Zoom in places they could not travel or by sending their cameras with a courier over to people’s homes to shoot photos of them at home while setting the shots remotely. For example, Devin Oktar Yalkın has directed Matthew McConaughey’s children over FaceTime from his home in New Jersey to do a shooting of McConaughey for the New York Times. You can read Yalkın’s experiences about that shooting here. On the same thread, here you can read Annie Tritt’s experiences on taking portraits of freelancers and gig workers at their homes, who were hit the hardest financially during the pandemic, without leaving her apartment in Brooklyn by using PhotoTimer+ application. You can read behind the scene anecdotes of famous fashion photographer Nick Knight who conducted a shoot over Zoom for the British Vogue. Last but not the least, we would like to share an example from Turkey. Young photographer Emin Berk, who have previously documented bodybuilders in public spaces, sent his camera and other equipment to their homes with a courier, to document their daily lives during early pandemic by remotely guiding them on how to use the equipment. You can see the photographs here along with a short video on how the shootings were made.
Inspired by above mentioned conditions and experiences, ‘Değiş Tokuş’ was launched to address the following question: ‘Could the unwelcomed travel restrictions imposed with the pandemic and the increased virtual contact in front of screens facilitate remote collective artistic production, that is, an intellectual, artistic, and skill-based exchange?’ Although ‘Değiş Tokuş’ seems like a production focused project at first hand, it is also a research on the applicability of the idea that artists can produce works in lieu of each other and for one another in their cities. As 12 artists were taking photos for their project partners in their cities, they also became editors of photography projects conducted for them in another city they were not supposed to visit easily. This method proved that dialogue, sharing, cooperation and most importantly leaving egos behind was crucial during this period. The stage we have collectively reached today shows that the process is determined by to what extent artists are willing to push the boundaries of collective production, and how much they claim ownership of the projects and are excited to undertake them - rather than focusing on who is the author of the project. There were duos who have found a common ground and implemented an idea/theme for each other in their cities alongside duos who have conducted independent projects that were inspired from similar themes.
Nilay Uluğ from İzmir and Şevda Tuğrul from Diyarbakır are two artist women who did not know each other or each other's cities before. They are the first of the teams that produced a common project. They went through a process that initially focused on the cities they grew up and lived in, but eventually leaned towards a more personal project of getting to know each other. Following an introductory/acquainting process that evolved into a kind of correspondence in a unique work titled 'Dear Nilay, Dear Şevda', through which the duo shared their routines, areas in their cities that are meaningful to them, and facts about their past.
Aynur Tıkıroğlu from İzmir and Hicret Ayaz İpek from Mardin are two artists with a background in painting, who traced the liminal areas in their cities for each other. Liminal areas can be defined as partially undefined, transitional spaces, characterized by a sense of discomfort. ‘Liminal’ is derived from ‘limen’, the Latin word for threshold, and Basmane Train Station in İzmir and ‘abbara’s in Mardin were where the duo explored the concept. The duo interpreted the photographs they took by making interventions in their own style and produced the ‘Liminal Area’.
Aslıhan Güçlü from İzmir and Mehmet Ali Kılıç from Şanlıurfa comprise the last team working around the same issue. They focused on urban clichés in İzmir and Şanlıurfa known for their historical and cultural riches that attract tourists. Shaped by the duo's realization that they focus on certain clichés while telling each other about the cities they live in, ‘Cliché City Narratives’ critically approach the prominent characteristics and spaces of cities through conscious reproduction of clichés and trace how they turn into touristic backgrounds in today's fast-paced production and sharing environment.
Fatma Çelik from Diyarbakır and Merve Güçlütürk from İzmir make up the first of the teams of ‘Değiş Tokuş’ that produced two different projects. Initially, the duo explored the concept of paradise with a common curiosity, inspired by Hevsel Gardens in Diyarbakır, which have also been described as the Garden of Eden since ancient times. As they were searching for paradise in İzmir, they came across the nuclear waste dump in Gaziemir, which led them to produce two works based on the contrast of heaven and hell. ‘Heaven on Earth’ depicts thousand and one shades of green through epic visuals while ‘Looking at a Hell’ blends radioactive pollution and information pollution through the logic of newspaper articles.
The duo formed by Ayşegül Kaycı from İzmir and İmran Atasal from Mardin Midyat produced the ‘Breathing Spaces’, which focuses on places people sought after in İzmir to breathe during the lockdown, and the ‘Memory of the Walls’ which revolves around how people in the center and villages of Midyat, a locality that stands out with its multicultural ethnic composition, present/exhibit objects, photographs, paintings and other paraphernalia on the walls of their homes.
Aylin Kızıl from Diyarbakır and Eyhan Çelik from İzmir, the last team of ‘Değiş Tokuş’, produced two different projects based on the question: ‘what is home?’. Aylin, who has often photographed nomads until today, portrays Kurdish women who migrated to İzmir in spaces they deem home in ‘All that is collected in our corner of the world’ through her project partner Eyhan. In ‘Cosmos’, Eyhan, through her project partner Aylin, documents the Koçers of Karacadağ, Diyarbakır’s state of being one with the cosmos, whose home travels with them wherever they go. Eyhan bases her approach on her childhood experience of lack of a sense of belonging associated with the concept of home.
As part of the project, one-on-one editing/mentoring sessions were ran online. These sessions were accompanied by ‘Değiş Tokuş Lectures/Talks’ which were open to the public, and ‘Değiş Tokuş Seminars’ which were only open to participating artists. Two-day instagram takeovers by project duos aimed to turn the project instagram account into an exhibition space and to increase their interaction with followers. Duos not only shared their photos that were not included in the selection presented here but also posted their inspirations spanning from photography and literature and to cinema and music. The instagram account of the project will remain active with surprise posts to continue the ‘değiş tokuş’. On top of all that, one photograph was selected from each project to be included in a set of postcards that physically allude to the concept of ‘Değiş Tokuş’, which is the initial idea behind the project. These set of postcards were sent to arts initiatives, collectives, and groups in cities where the project was conducted and beyond in Turkey.
Project coordinators: Refik Akyüz & Serdar Darendeliler [GAPO], Lütfü İrdem, Sinan Kılıç [No 238]
Artists: Nilay Uluğ & Şevda Tuğrul, Ayşegül Kaycı & İmran Atasal, Fatma Çelik & Merve Güçlütürk, Aynur Tıkıroğlu & Hicret Ayaz İpek, Aylin Kızıl & Eyhan Çelik, Aslıhan Güçlü & Mehmet Ali Kılıç
Editors: Refik Akyüz & Serdar Darendeliler
Lecturers and Writers: Meltem Şendağ, Aslı Iğsız, Eda Yiğit, Elif Demirkaya, İpek Çınar
Seminars: Saliha Yavuz, Cemre Yeşil, Sinem Dişli
Web design: Serdar Darendeliler
Turkish-English translations: Deniz İnal Turkish-Kurdish translations: Rêbîn Özmen
Contact: gapo@gapo.org