Where I Fell Into Earth, 2016

Where I Fell Into Earth

2016, PILOT Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

12 MAY 2016 – 18 JUNE 2016

Pilot is hosting İrem Tok’s third solo exhibition entitled “Where I Fell Into Earth” between May 12 and June 18, 2016. For this exhibition the artist delves into painting and ceramic sculptures, both new materials in her production and she combines them with her most recurring mediums including books and video. 

The exhibition centers on fire, which is the most basic yet powerful motif in mythology. During her days in Sicily, İrem Tok becomes fascinated by the view of Mount Etna; after her return she asks a local friend to send her photos on a daily basis, which allows her to keep this one-sided and long-distance relationship alive despite being away. This landscape she has painted in an obsessive manner for a period inspires the animated volcano that stands in the center of the exhibition. In the show, fire appears both as a destructive force and a creative one. The sculpture that is part of the video installation stands as a symbol of mankind’s (and the artist’s) helplessness in face of damaging conditions.

For this exhibition, İrem Tok produces a special flora that will surround the volcano. Plants that make love, embrace or attack each other become part of this imagined cosmos. The body parts –in sleep or death- appear to be indissolubly connected with the surrounding space. Evoking life and death, half-plant half-human sculptures suggest a fragile yet strong being.

The exhibition takes its title from a namesake concept of the famous German philosopher Heidegger. In light of Heidegger’s “da-sein” and “geworfenheit” concepts, it tries to comprehend and explain human existence within its ties to other beings in the world with whom it is in contact. The exhibition revolves around the experiences of a human being dumped/thrown into the middle of life. Tok questions one’s existence in a time, place, family and world not chosen and that is out of his/her control.