The Power of the Body: Seçil's "Being" Exhibition
Continuing her life and work in London, artist Seçil is in Istanbul with a new solo exhibition after a long break... Being , consisting of the artist's works to be shown for the first time and produced for the exhibition , can be seen at Adas Istanbul until May 4, 2024.
Throughout history, the body has been an issue between people and things. When we exclude the legal dimension of this issue and focus on the history of modern thought, we can find a channel to follow. In modern thought, the body is categorically recognized as an “object” within the subject, but as “other” to the subject. Just as Descartes suggested, the body is viewed from a very distant place, where it is separated from the subject.
“So that the soul, which is what I am, is completely different from the body. Even if the body had never existed, the soul would not have lost anything by being what it is.”
Discourses on Method, Rene Descartes
But we cannot confine all modern thought within this paradigm. We can place Spinoza, who redefines the power relations between body and mind, right across from it. According to him, a mind devoid of a body is unthinkable.
“The body, as an actually existing mode of extension, is the sole object of the human mind.”
Ethics, Spinoza
Thus, according to Descartes, the episteme, which only becomes possible with the separation of the mind from the body, is seen as possible only in the inseparable unity of the mind and body, according to Spinoza’s proposal. In short, the body, which is a tissue woven with symbolic ties for Spinoza, is not a simple machine, contrary to what Hobbes suggests. This adventure of thought will take us to Nietzsche, who will say, “There is more mind in your body than in your best wisdom.” It is also quite possible to take the discussion from here to the areas of power shaped by biopolitical dynamics. But this will be enough for us…
I touched upon this whole issue to make visible the changing role of the body compared to consciousness. We can now say that the body is a transit area between people and things, a stop that cannot be stopped. When we look at the works of artist Seçil with exactly this suggestion, everything becomes a little clearer.
The artist does not place his body outside the perception of "I". On the contrary, as an observer, he looks at the existence of the things he watches without excluding the presence of his own physical existence. He paints the tree he watches from the window of his house by holding together his body looking at the tree from the window and his imagining mind.
“I emphasize that nothing is more important than the individual himself, his breath, the synchronization between his mind and heart, and the state of being in harmony. In this context, as an artist, I am interested in the intention of the works I produce during production, the atmosphere created by both the content and the visual power, and the value that the period I am in adds to life.”
(A passage from the artist's interview with Burcu Dimili)
We can also look at the points where the artist draws inspiration to strengthen the body narrative inherent in the self. Here, the artist gives examples of activities based on the integrity of mind and body, such as sports and meditation. Likewise, meditation also appears as one of the artist's pre-production practices.
The artist, who produces within this “holistic” perspective, states that he has been thinking about the “state of being” that gives its name to the exhibition for a long time. The show features two works by the artist titled Being and Being in Love . In these multi-part and large-scale works, we encounter a much more dynamic narrative compared to his previous works. At the same time, in a section of the exhibition, sketchbooks, exhibition plans and a leporello are displayed in a way that can shed light on the artist’s production practices.