EVERYTHING SHOULD BE UNDER
THE SUN
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Julie MARDIN: FAIRYTELLS INTERRUPTED
What did you lead to the digital art world? How do you relate yourself with Turkish culture? Being an American
of Turkish origin... When you titled your exhibition
as, "Fairytales Interrupted", did you feel that your cultural
identity also interrupted as well any period of your life?
But more 'fairytales interrupted'
was about trying to use romantic and naïve symbolism and add a
little note of reality to it, or to deal with cold uncertainty in a
way that appears somewhat dreamy.
The fact that I use toys adds a somewhat safe distance to things.
And the figures are simplified, pared down, trying to operate
on the symbolic level that fairytales operate on. They are silhouettes, or their faces are cut out, their identities
seem lost for the moment as they try to
figure out their position between the past, in some images the Ottoman
tradition, and the coming age of technology.
So I guess it is about cultural identities interrupting each
other, coming together, the old and the new.
You might see the traditional crafts combined with references
to technology, a circuit board as a background for a kilim, an evil
eye chain supporting a globe covered in circuitry. Very often a cultureís technological
progress comes on the heels of its military pursuits, so you will see
flying jets intruding on the calm peace of the interior of the Selimiye
Mosque. They are all just
symbols of our inheritance coming up against the modern world. How do you evaluate old fairytales
in today's world? Old fairytales and old images
of females are very much about the princess, the perfect, kind, delicate
lady, in need of a prince, who will complete her.
I think she is an empty symbol for us right now, and I guess
some of the work tries to show the hollowness of some of these fairytales,
how really they don't serve our needs anymore, and maybe in some cases
are harmful. Is there such a thing as 'contemporary
fairytales' and how do you define or interpret them? The images
created by public relations and the media, they are all in a way fairytales. At the same time as the symbolism
changes the actual stories we create might be rather similar.
The exploration of space is in many ways just a new version of
the young man sent away from his village.
Aliens are now our new goblins, monsters or fairies. With the discovery of uranium, and creation
of the bomb, now the post-apocalyptic landscape is a very much a part
of our imagination, yet it fits right in with the story of the Bible. Still, there is much we need
to process in our experience, the growing industrialization, the loss
of nature, and these all find their way into our stories.
You can call them fairytales, or our dreaming world, our collective
subconscious, whatever it is, there is always a need for playing with
the elements in our lives, the events, the people we meet or are involved
with, whether it be physically playing with miniatures, toys, as objects
in our hands, or dreaming about them as they take the form of powerful
symbols, or manipulating them while creating a work of art.
This kind of activity allows one to think in a non-logical, non-linear
way, which is essential for us to orient ourselves in the world in which
we live, for making some order out of our raw experience, to rectify
an imbalance, and grow. I think probably modern fairytales
are more ìinterruptedî by nature, or rather, 'inconclusive.'
They are just fragments of the new and old elements in our lives,
trying to find a comfortable arrangement in our consciousness. What was your previous accomplishment
in art world? I still very much feel like a
beginner. I've been showing for about four years
in group shows mostly in the United States. I've also earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University,
and am still working on my first novel. What are your main sources
enrich your perspective and ideas? All the darkness in our history, all the brutal violence, has been turned into a pretty pattern. A lot of this work is influenced
by pop culture and the mass media.
It is my subject in a way, as well as a part of my techniques.
I try to imitate the bold colors and graphics as a way of commenting
on how things are sold to children, are packaged and commodified, and
as artist Mur Hayman had said, ìcosmetized,î made cosmetically
pleasing. All the darkness
in our history, all the brutal violence, has been turned into a pretty
pattern. Cowboys and Indians is an amusing
game, WWII soldiers are party favors. Guns are made in brightly colored
plastics, in all sorts of science fiction fanciful designs, and all
the latest in actual military weapons and technology is also readily
available. In this way
I think young minds are acclimated to the aggression that our culture
is founded upon. Even if
a boy grows up into a perfectly peaceful and responsible individual,
who would never hurt anyone, he probably still sees the abstract need
for war to be carried out, if not here and by himself, in some distant
land, by some other people's sons.
So, these mass-produced objects and their implicit power fascinate
me. Other people who eternally inspire
and encourage are the people in the pacifist line of thought, Gandhi,
Martin Luther King, people who found a way to fight against incredible
odds simply with the force of their gentleness. If you could, what type of
world would you created for children or tomorrow? Or if you have a power
to change the entire World, what would've be the first three things
you would've definently change as first? Right now the Army is the only organization that offers a wonderful education sponsorship program. Wow, what a big question, but
I suppose I would have to say, give children a sense that they are cared
for and loved. That they have a sense of worth, so that
they can in turn feel the same for others. I don't mean give them a huge sense of ego, but a sense of
worth that is not arrogant, that is also sensitive to those around them.
I guess ways of doing this is very much up to the parents, of
course, who have to show love and engage their children and
be in a constant dialogue with them, and somehow temper discipline with
complete non-judgmentalness. This is all very easy for me to say, not being a parent.
But if there is slack there, teachers and schools should be made
to be sensitive to this, and worry also about teaching kids to be good
people rather than just achievers. I suppose religion took this responsibility
for a while, but as we become more and more secular, we cannot just
give up our morality and spirituality. Education should be about teaching kids to be good as well
as knowlegeable, or rather, capable of passing tests. Another way to get kids to feel
worthwhile is to offer them resources, workshops, afterschool programs
that can get them involved in an art, an instrument, something to broaden
their perspectives. Music and the arts are the first things
to go from struggling schools.
Education from primary school to university should be free and
excellent, and equal in all communities.
There are some schools that don't have the money for textbooks.
The kids are studying from a series of xeroxes, and they're lost
in overcrowded classes. If we want to get a sense of
what kind of importance we give to children we can look at our national
budget. I don't have the exact statistics, but Defense spending completely
dwarfs whatever we spend on education. I think we are very low on the list of
nations when it comes to what percentage we spend on our children. How can we expect that much from our children
if we don't even invest in them? Right now the Army is the only
organization that offers a wonderful education sponsorship program.
These programs should be available without your having to align
yourself with the military. Can't
we just extend them to the civilian sphere, and perhaps say that the
only prerequisite is that you spend a certain amount of years doing
community service. There
was talk of this early on in Clintonís first campaign, a sort
of domestic peace-corps, though I'm not sure whatever happened to it...
There are so many who want to be a doctor for altruistic reasons, yet
don't have the resources to do so.
Anyone who wants to go into service of this kind should be able
to do so. It would be a dual-solution of providing a means for an individual
to better their own situation, as well as that of a whole community. Violence seems to be the only means for a lot of young people... Even schools in the well-off
communities are not producing particularly well-educated students, and
it is in the white, privileged areas that there have been a series of
shooting sprees. Violence seems to be the only means for a lot of young people
to feel a sense of their own self worth. It is all connected with the atmosphere of bullying that I
guess the teachers are unable to monitor or control, the pervading violence
in our culture and entertainment, that makes it a big part of the young
parson's imagination and readily transformed into action. Who knows what other factors play into
this increasing alienation? The
over-prescription of Ridlyn and anti-depressants? Prosac for instance, has on its list of possible side effects,
depression. Some have said
that it can induce feelings of indifference towards one's self and towards
others, and even suicidal tendencies.
The culture as a whole, and it can only start on an individual
basis, has to examine their own lives, their own priorities, and not
look for shortcuts. Why are we so ready to medicate our children
simply for having what we think is too much energy or for being antisocial,
or simply to make it easier for a teacher to regulate the classroom?
Can we get over our obsession with
a magic pill to right something that is systemic and far-reaching, and
instead of drugging our kids, try to get at the bottom of their problem. I hate to sound puritanical but
another thing that worries me is the typical diet that kids consume
in this country. Just look at what we serve in school cafeterias
(not to mention hospitals.) The
fast food, the sugar, the bland produce that is a result of the great
agricultural chemical revolution of the 50ís. Now this type of food is considered the
normal conventional food, and organic is terribly experimental, whereas
it is just the opposite. The
food we have been eating for the past fifty years or so is the experiment. And it has failed. The land has been polluted...the topsoil
has dwindled to a thin, unfertile shell of what it used to be ...we
might have had more yield in the beginning, but that has required increasing
amount of chemicals just to keep up with itself, and the quality has
declined as the quantity has gone up, and
we are exposed to carcinogenic materials in the process. If the planet is ill, then so will we be... We need to move on from our destructive
way of life that is completely at odds and indifferent to the planet
which is our home, and which nourishes us.
If the planet is ill, then so will we be...
So after this diatribe, I guess what I'm trying to say is, how
can we expect our children to be peaceful, loving people, when our whole
means of existence is one of disrespect and irresponsibility towards
the land, of simply scrambling after short term profit, with not much
concern for our fellow people, creatures, let alone future generations. So, I guess I will try to consolidate
three things out of my diatribe. 1) In order to give children
a sense of their worth: reprioritize our national spending, offer equal
resources to all schools. Keep after school programs, art and music
programs available, libraries, sports facilities, should have long hours
and be open everyday for kids to have somewhere to go... Make opportunities
available for anyone with altruistic aims. 2) Rethink the effects
of our lifestyle, from our dependence on fossil fuels, which is the
source of most international conflicts, to the way we grow our food.
If the structure of our world is one that is responsible, and
benign to our environment, this in itself would go a long way as an
example for kids. Not to mention providing a wholesome, nourishing place to grow
up. 3) Of course large societal
changes cannot come about unless it happens on the individual level
first. All I can suggest
is that each individual try to live more consciously. This can involve just taking a little
time out from an impossibly busy schedule even to do something that
one enjoys, to allow yourself to be yourself.
It sounds silly but I guess this ties in with the show's themes,
the importance of play, which is a means of thought, of trying to figure
things out. Julie Mardin's "Fairytales
Interrupted" was exhibited with an original music by Joe MARDIN
at the MARMARA-MANHATTAN GALLERY. For more information: |
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TURKCE - ISIK BINYILI
BAHAR sayisi web'dedir. |
@The Light
Millennium magazine was created and designed
by Bircan ÜNVER. 6th issue. Summer 2001, New York. URL: http://www.lightmillennium.org |