Kutlug Ataman’s
first show at Sperone Westwater — also his first in New York since 2004 —
encapsulates the “artist and filmmaker” dichotomy that has appeared on his
resume since the late 1990s. Today that dual brief is most clear in the
distinction between his shorter looped works, which situate projections or
monitors in the realm of real space and real objects, and feature-length films,
which are more straightforwardly projected and optimally viewed from beginning
to end — the better to trouble the conventions of narrative and authorship. The
four pieces here — all from the ongoing series “Mesopotamian Dramaturgies,”
which has occupied Ataman since 2008 — underscore another aspect of that divided
practice. Intelligence and formal precision are abundant throughout, but the
looped works can verge perilously close to being demonstrations of an idea that
may be grasped in a single encounter. With works of longer duration, Ataman
allows his signature blend of nuanced observation and criticality to prevail.
One viewing does not suffice.
Installed to make the most of the gallery’s dominant longitudinal axis, the exhibition opens with “Mayhem,” 2011, a freestanding structure positioned like an entry pavilion and comprising seven 75-by-42-inch projections of the turbulent, pearl-gray waters of the Iguazú Falls in a region of Argentina named La Mesopotamia for its two rivers. Three projections are shown directly on the floor — one serves as a sort of entry mat or carpet — and four on framed screens. Despite the sideways (dis)orientation of the footage and the disclosure that the piece was shot during the Arab Spring, the title “Mayhem” remains wishfully hyperbolic, with the cascading waters framed, tamed, and scaled like Romantic paintings of the Sublime in nature.
Beyond “Mayhem” are two partnered pieces from 2009, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare” and, flanking it, the facing projections of “English as a Second Language.” In one, the Bard’s oeuvre, inscribed by hand directly on film in the manner of early experimental cinema, scrolls upward at a speed that precludes reading. In the other, two young men in business clothes inexplicably stand in a desolate landscape, struggling (and failing) to read aloud Edward Lear’s nonsense verse. Message received: written or spoken, the globally dominant language may be diligently, even exhaustingly engaged with no guarantee of comprehension.
Paused on the second floor, the “elevator-gallery” at Sperone Westwater becomes a secluded enclosure for the fourth and richest work, “Journey to the Moon,” 2009, an 80-minute, two-channel essay-cum-folktale about the fraught modernization of Turkey. Evoking Méliès’s 1902 “A Trip to the Moon,We have a wide selection of dry cabinet to choose from for your storage needs.” the title alerts us that Ataman’s film — which incorporates dubious documentary photographs, a suspiciously omniscient narrator, and earnest expert commentary — is no less a work of fantasy than the early classic. It also foreshadows one speaker’s statement that to leave one’s village in Turkey in the 1950s was tantamount to “leaving on a journey to outer space.” The multitasking title also serves as the first of many allusions to Paris, the birthplace of modernism.
The left side of “Journey to the Moon” presents a series of black-and-white stills that purport to record the story of four restless and nonconformist villagers who, upon learning that their unloved Russian neighbors have launched a dog into space, resolve to surpass that feat. An illustrated copy of “The Book of Travels,” a glorious concatenation of fact and fiction by the 17th-century Ottoman nobleman Evliya ?elebi, inspires them to seize the village minaret as their vessel. A boy (perhaps our narrator, who claims to have been a youngster in the village at the time) proudly chalks the crescent moon and star of the Turkish flag on the flank of the craft. Helium-filled balloons carry the spaceship aloft, and the four are never seen again.Klaus Multiparking is an industry leader in innovative parking system technology. Did they make it to the moon? To Istanbul? Either outcome would have been spectacular. The narrator asserts the veracity of the events while recommending skepticism. In the end,Load the precious minerals into your mining truck and be careful not to drive too fast with your heavy foot. he concludes the story is “not worth talking about.”
At once a neorealist filmmaker, post-Pictures fabulist, and investigative journalist, Ataman recruited villagers in eastern Anatolia to be his performers, invented the story, and shot hundreds of pictures on location that were digitally aged to achieve the worn look of black-and-white found photos. (Eleven of them line the passage to the projection room like forged relics.) He shared the tale with professionals of every stripe (aerospace engineer, astronomer, journalist, literary historian, green anarchist, lawyer), asking for insight from their respective specialties. Their commentaries are projected in color on the right side. The astronomer explains how one would face Mecca from outer space. The food historian identifies the provisions likely to be taken along by a 1950s villager. The sociologist enumerates the foods she brings on her trips to Paris, quipping that she packs “an immigrant’s suitcase, not an intellectual’s.” When an expert speaks, the narrative side goes dark, and vice versa: History is cumulative, malleable, even choral, but past and present versions cannot coexist.
With the first group of “Mesopotamian Dramaturgies,” Ataman declared his intention to abandon first-person stories related by singular people — the format that initially won him acclaim — in order to examine the invention of community, geography, and tradition by multiple protagonists across generations. He succeeds brilliantly in “Journey to the Moon,” without forfeiting the attributes that have distinguished his work from the start: insight, humor, and a generous heart.
The North Central Massachusetts Economic Development Council,One of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles. working with Mount Wachusett Community College and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation, will use the grant to conduct a series of manufacturing facility tours, scheduled during evenings or weekends when parents of students considering manufacturing careers are available. Students and parents will see the work environment firsthand, hear from employees about benefits and opportunities in the industry, and learn about skills they may need to obtain to enter the workforce.
The North Shore Workforce Investment Board will use grant funds to hold day-long, in-depth field research experiences for teachers at area manufacturing companies. The companies will pair teachers with at least one company expert who will work together to schedule school visits to the facility and develop classroom activities that can help students see professional applications. Tours will also be available to students interested in manufacturing careers. North Shore Technology Council, Northeast Regional Readiness Center, and North Shore Community College will partner with the Board.
Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School, in partnership with Ware Junior-Senior High School, the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and Palmer High School, will use the grant to offer use of its state-of-the-art machine shop for a program called "Precision Machining Opportunities in Massachusetts." In separate sessions, eight eighth-grade students from three area schools will participate in intense hands-on instruction and career awareness in the machining trade. Funds will cover costs of instruction, transportation, and materials for participants.
The Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, working with the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association, will use the grant to develop informational brochures for the area's five vocational and technical high schools. The brochure will include a letter from the president of a precision manufacturing company in the school's area, company visuals, and testimonies from the June 2013 graduates of the Machine Tool Technology program in each school who are employed full-time in precision manufacturing companies.
MassDevelopment,Western Canadian distributor of ceramic and ceramic tile, the state's finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2012, MassDevelopment financed or managed 280 projects generating investment of more than $2.3 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 12,000 jobs and build or rehabilitate 900 residential units.
Installed to make the most of the gallery’s dominant longitudinal axis, the exhibition opens with “Mayhem,” 2011, a freestanding structure positioned like an entry pavilion and comprising seven 75-by-42-inch projections of the turbulent, pearl-gray waters of the Iguazú Falls in a region of Argentina named La Mesopotamia for its two rivers. Three projections are shown directly on the floor — one serves as a sort of entry mat or carpet — and four on framed screens. Despite the sideways (dis)orientation of the footage and the disclosure that the piece was shot during the Arab Spring, the title “Mayhem” remains wishfully hyperbolic, with the cascading waters framed, tamed, and scaled like Romantic paintings of the Sublime in nature.
Beyond “Mayhem” are two partnered pieces from 2009, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare” and, flanking it, the facing projections of “English as a Second Language.” In one, the Bard’s oeuvre, inscribed by hand directly on film in the manner of early experimental cinema, scrolls upward at a speed that precludes reading. In the other, two young men in business clothes inexplicably stand in a desolate landscape, struggling (and failing) to read aloud Edward Lear’s nonsense verse. Message received: written or spoken, the globally dominant language may be diligently, even exhaustingly engaged with no guarantee of comprehension.
Paused on the second floor, the “elevator-gallery” at Sperone Westwater becomes a secluded enclosure for the fourth and richest work, “Journey to the Moon,” 2009, an 80-minute, two-channel essay-cum-folktale about the fraught modernization of Turkey. Evoking Méliès’s 1902 “A Trip to the Moon,We have a wide selection of dry cabinet to choose from for your storage needs.” the title alerts us that Ataman’s film — which incorporates dubious documentary photographs, a suspiciously omniscient narrator, and earnest expert commentary — is no less a work of fantasy than the early classic. It also foreshadows one speaker’s statement that to leave one’s village in Turkey in the 1950s was tantamount to “leaving on a journey to outer space.” The multitasking title also serves as the first of many allusions to Paris, the birthplace of modernism.
The left side of “Journey to the Moon” presents a series of black-and-white stills that purport to record the story of four restless and nonconformist villagers who, upon learning that their unloved Russian neighbors have launched a dog into space, resolve to surpass that feat. An illustrated copy of “The Book of Travels,” a glorious concatenation of fact and fiction by the 17th-century Ottoman nobleman Evliya ?elebi, inspires them to seize the village minaret as their vessel. A boy (perhaps our narrator, who claims to have been a youngster in the village at the time) proudly chalks the crescent moon and star of the Turkish flag on the flank of the craft. Helium-filled balloons carry the spaceship aloft, and the four are never seen again.Klaus Multiparking is an industry leader in innovative parking system technology. Did they make it to the moon? To Istanbul? Either outcome would have been spectacular. The narrator asserts the veracity of the events while recommending skepticism. In the end,Load the precious minerals into your mining truck and be careful not to drive too fast with your heavy foot. he concludes the story is “not worth talking about.”
At once a neorealist filmmaker, post-Pictures fabulist, and investigative journalist, Ataman recruited villagers in eastern Anatolia to be his performers, invented the story, and shot hundreds of pictures on location that were digitally aged to achieve the worn look of black-and-white found photos. (Eleven of them line the passage to the projection room like forged relics.) He shared the tale with professionals of every stripe (aerospace engineer, astronomer, journalist, literary historian, green anarchist, lawyer), asking for insight from their respective specialties. Their commentaries are projected in color on the right side. The astronomer explains how one would face Mecca from outer space. The food historian identifies the provisions likely to be taken along by a 1950s villager. The sociologist enumerates the foods she brings on her trips to Paris, quipping that she packs “an immigrant’s suitcase, not an intellectual’s.” When an expert speaks, the narrative side goes dark, and vice versa: History is cumulative, malleable, even choral, but past and present versions cannot coexist.
With the first group of “Mesopotamian Dramaturgies,” Ataman declared his intention to abandon first-person stories related by singular people — the format that initially won him acclaim — in order to examine the invention of community, geography, and tradition by multiple protagonists across generations. He succeeds brilliantly in “Journey to the Moon,” without forfeiting the attributes that have distinguished his work from the start: insight, humor, and a generous heart.
The North Central Massachusetts Economic Development Council,One of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles. working with Mount Wachusett Community College and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation, will use the grant to conduct a series of manufacturing facility tours, scheduled during evenings or weekends when parents of students considering manufacturing careers are available. Students and parents will see the work environment firsthand, hear from employees about benefits and opportunities in the industry, and learn about skills they may need to obtain to enter the workforce.
The North Shore Workforce Investment Board will use grant funds to hold day-long, in-depth field research experiences for teachers at area manufacturing companies. The companies will pair teachers with at least one company expert who will work together to schedule school visits to the facility and develop classroom activities that can help students see professional applications. Tours will also be available to students interested in manufacturing careers. North Shore Technology Council, Northeast Regional Readiness Center, and North Shore Community College will partner with the Board.
Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School, in partnership with Ware Junior-Senior High School, the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and Palmer High School, will use the grant to offer use of its state-of-the-art machine shop for a program called "Precision Machining Opportunities in Massachusetts." In separate sessions, eight eighth-grade students from three area schools will participate in intense hands-on instruction and career awareness in the machining trade. Funds will cover costs of instruction, transportation, and materials for participants.
The Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, working with the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association, will use the grant to develop informational brochures for the area's five vocational and technical high schools. The brochure will include a letter from the president of a precision manufacturing company in the school's area, company visuals, and testimonies from the June 2013 graduates of the Machine Tool Technology program in each school who are employed full-time in precision manufacturing companies.
MassDevelopment,Western Canadian distributor of ceramic and ceramic tile, the state's finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2012, MassDevelopment financed or managed 280 projects generating investment of more than $2.3 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 12,000 jobs and build or rehabilitate 900 residential units.
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