Auditions for an Unwritten Opera
鈥溾�� I began to title each of my works with a date from the future that would fall during my possible lifetime. I would undertake to repeat each work in some way on its particular date. Every work would reappear at some later point during my life鈥檚 work. My work would not evolve, or at least the gradient of its evolution would be flat. It is a system where I can consciously fool myself that all my works are mature works. And working within this system I would, in fact, objectively use my own life鈥檚 work as its own subject matter.鈥� Mutlu 脟erkez
For the first time in two decades, from July 14 to October 8, 2023, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden reintroduces the multi-layered oeuvre of the artist Mutlu 脟erkez (1964-2005) to a larger audience. Presenting an experimental exhibition format, Auditions for an Unwritten Opera unfolds a solo presentation into a constellation of installations and exhibits. Selected works by 脟erkez are shown in dialogue with contemporary practices including those of Juliet Carpenter, Jesse Darling, and Hanne Lippard, alongside relevant historical positions such as On Kawara, Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, among others.
We live in times when spaces for grief have been reduced to moments of interaction on social media. The politics of desire and technologies of pleasure are shifting our economy of attention to screen-navigated zones and self-centered stimulation. However, this cannot replace the true meaning of shared joy. Connecting the exhibition space to emotional intelligence, the collective unconscious, and conceptual thinking, this exhibition becomes a mental space between joy and grief.
脟erkez is an excellent protagonist to create a room for reflection, collective studio practice, and expanded stage to question our relationships with the future; our connections with the present art canon, and our position in relation to those missing chapters of art history. This exhibition is not only about the legacy of an early loss, but an emphasis on rehearsal, work in progress, daily practice, and exercise without final results, conclusions, renders, or destinations.
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鈥溾�� I began to title each of my works with a date from the future that would fall during my possible lifetime. I would undertake to repeat each work in some way on its particular date. Every work would reappear at some later point during my life鈥檚 work. My work would not evolve, or at least the gradient of its evolution would be flat. It is a system where I can consciously fool myself that all my works are mature works. And working within this system I would, in fact, objectively use my own life鈥檚 work as its own subject matter.鈥� Mutlu 脟erkez
For the first time in two decades, from July 14 to October 8, 2023, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden reintroduces the multi-layered oeuvre of the artist Mutlu 脟erkez (1964-2005) to a larger audience. Presenting an experimental exhibition format, Auditions for an Unwritten Opera unfolds a solo presentation into a constellation of installations and exhibits. Selected works by 脟erkez are shown in dialogue with contemporary practices including those of Juliet Carpenter, Jesse Darling, and Hanne Lippard, alongside relevant historical positions such as On Kawara, Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, among others.
We live in times when spaces for grief have been reduced to moments of interaction on social media. The politics of desire and technologies of pleasure are shifting our economy of attention to screen-navigated zones and self-centered stimulation. However, this cannot replace the true meaning of shared joy. Connecting the exhibition space to emotional intelligence, the collective unconscious, and conceptual thinking, this exhibition becomes a mental space between joy and grief.
脟erkez is an excellent protagonist to create a room for reflection, collective studio practice, and expanded stage to question our relationships with the future; our connections with the present art canon, and our position in relation to those missing chapters of art history. This exhibition is not only about the legacy of an early loss, but an emphasis on rehearsal, work in progress, daily practice, and exercise without final results, conclusions, renders, or destinations.
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For the first time in two decades, from July 14 to October 8, 2023, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden reintroduces the multi-layered oeuvre of the artist Mutlu 脟erkez (1964鈥�2005) to a larger audience.
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