The publication intended to accompany the work which Gülsün Karamustafa is producing specifically for the Türkiye Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, held from 20 April to 24 November 2024, physically consists of four parts: two separate books, one focusing on the artist’s Venice project and the other on her previous works, a poster folded in-between both volumes, and an open-sided casing, holding all these pieces together.
Focusing on the artist’s Venice project, the first volume begins with Karamustafa’s text titled ‘Hollow and Broken: A State of the World,’ which not only delves into the project itself but also serves as a guide for the entire publication’s structure. Her concise and powerful narrative both outlines a form and mirrors her creative method. Karamustafa fills the framework that she draws in the first two and last paragraphs with a ‘state of the world’, which may be regarded as a representation of emptiness and hollowness, with the materials – themselves broken perhaps – that her installation is made of. In doing so, she divulges what these materials are, at times vaguely and at others distinctly. In due course, the artist shares with the reader not only the feelings and thoughts that preoccupy her, but also the process by which the work came into being.
The following pages of the first book harbour texts, devoted to each material used to form the artist’s work, which were not expected to be directly related to the installation. Under the twelve headings which the materials list comprises, these texts were authored by professionals who either produce with, reflect on, or may potentially reflect on those materials. In order of appearance, the contributors and focuses of their texts featured in this book are as follows: İpek Yürekli on the Arsenale, Sale d’Armi, Section C; Alev Erkmen on column casting mould; Sevince Bayrak on iron bar; Ersin Altın on rail; Emre Özgüder on wheeled cart; Melis Cankara on broken glass shards; Aren Kurtgözü on spare chandelier parts; Waseem Ahmad Siddiqui on barbed wire; Hasan Cem Çal on the screen; Ezgi Alkan on the black and white footage; Furkan Keçeli on sound; and Gökhan Kodalak on light. Along with the artist’s statement, these twelve texts are connected to one another by Karamustafa’s sketches. Each author freely determined the degree of relationship or the lack thereof between their text and the artist’s Venice project.
In writing about the materials that make up this installation, which primarily hinges on architectural references, some of the contributing authors opted to maintain an utterly disconnected stance, while others preferred conversing with the artist so as to engage more deeply with her work. Spurred by the artist’s text, some authors adopted an intermediate and subjective approach, yet others put forward a critical viewpoint of our methodology. Ultimately, each and every one of them, through their distinctive perspective, came forward with a unique layer, providing a parallel and enriching contribution to the work. Thus, the process of the book’s generation promoted the emergence of both collective and independent new ideas regarding the artist’s Venice project as the latter took shape. Even those texts which started out entirely independently eventually engaged with the work with the help of the list of keywords and concepts that appears at the end of the book, alongside the artist’s work diary, which the authors will only discover when they receive their copies.
The framework outlined in the artist’s introductory text is eventually completed by the said work diary, and list of keywords, kept throughout the production process of the Venice project. This production-oriented diary provides us with a window into the words, concepts, thoughts and concerns spinning inside the mind of an artist at work. Only by accompanying her on such a journey can we begin to comprehend how the text that marks the beginning of this book could ever have been articulated in such minimalist, concise and powerful manner.
The second volume features a text authored by Gülsün Karamustafa in response to questions specifically conceived for this publication by the book’s designer, Esen Karol. Karol’s questions, which centre on materials, concepts and modes of production, seek to illuminate the similarities and differences between Karamustafa’s previous works and Hollow and Broken. Through Karamustafa’s fluid narration, a multi-layered continuity surfaces. In order to keep that narration’s flow uninterrupted, we chose not to include Karol’s prompts in the book.
A folded poster, produced with the stills of the film that the artist regards as the binding statement of her Venice project, is placed between both volumes. As for the open-sided casing, it serves as an ‘empty’ connector, holding the publication’s components together, or as a ‘state,’ encompassing them all.
All things considered, this book was conceived as one which the artist would both pen and read. I believe that creating such a book would not have been possible if Gülsün Karamustafa had not been so open as an artist to sharing both her individual production process, and production in itself.
An abridged version of this text was utilised in the project’s press release.
Book’s title: Hollow and Broken: A State of the World
Co-publishers: Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and Mousse Publishing
Editor: Melis Cankara
Authors:
Ezgi Alkan, Ersin Altın, Sevince Bayrak, Melis Cankara, Hasan Cem Çal, Alev Erkmen, Furkan Keçeli, Gülsün Karamustafa, Gökhan Kodalak, Aren Kurtgözü, Emre Özgüder, Waseem Ahmad Siddiqui, İpek Yürekli
Translation from Turkish: Baptiste Gacoin
Copy Editing: Melissa Larner
Design: Esen Karol
Dimensions: 15 × 20 cm
Pages: 176 (112 + 64)
ISBN number: 978-88-6749-626-6
Price: EUR 30 / USD 35
This book was co-published by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) in its Turkish, and by İKSV in collaboration with Mousse Publishing in its English edition.
The Turkish edition is available for purchase at Minoa Pera and Minoa Akaretler, Istanbul. Starting with the opening of the Biennale, the English edition will be available through La Biennale bookstores, Mousse’s website and its distributors.