A work on paper by Jannis Kounellis

June 10–August 8, 2015

collectorspace invites Mexico City-based collector Cesar Cervantes and curator Lorena Jauregui to discuss “collecting without corrupting”—a topic that is core to Cervantes’s collecting practice. The event will take place at collectorspace on Saturday, October 12, 2013, 6:30–8pm.Cesar Cervantes started off by collecting modern Mexican masters, but eventually shifted his attention to works by contemporary international artists. He later began to revisit conceptual works from the 1960s and 1970s, questioning the existing readings of contemporary artistic production. He now contemplates a question rarely discussed: when to end collecting?Lorena Jáuregui currently works at the National Fund for Arts and Culture (FONCA) where she organizes the Young Artists Exhibitions. In the last 15 years, she has been involved with numerous private and public art institutions, and organized exhibitions with both Mexican and international artists in Mexico City.

The talk will be held in English. The event is free and open to all.

Photograph: Sebastiano Opellion
Courtesy of Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Esther Schipper, Berlin, and Cesar Cervantes Collection.

Friday, May 26, 2017, 6.30–8PM

Since early March, Aslıhan Demirtaş’s Kaide [Plinth]—a sixty-by-forty-inch, knee-high, rectangular prism of rammed earth—has been exhibited at our space near Taksim Square. Kaide’s sharp edges and corners have softened over time, and cracks opened up on its surface, as we watched it weather wisely to its temporary environment. Demirtaş’s intention was to place soil as both the object and the subject of the conversation, which allowed us to explore our mutual engagement with soil—how we assume to possess it, what values and meanings we bestow on it, and how the soil might own us. To highlight these questions, we brought one and a half tons of soil into our exhibition space, produced the work with the help of manual devices (watch the video here), and took care of it to maintain its structure by spraying it with water on a daily basis. At the end of the exhibition, we will take down Kaide so that the soil goes back to where we borrowed it from. With this exhibition, we also wanted to explore the potential of collecting beyond the mere accumulation of precious objects and inquire into different models of ownership in contemporary art.

Referring to soil’s most common role as a medium for growth and departing from Kaide’s one particular meaning as plinth, we invited a group of artists, collectors, and farmers with distinct collecting practices to provide “something” to be paired with Kaide—to engage in dialog with it for one week. Their responses opened up questions around memory, permanence, as well as economies of trust, barter, and desire. Ali Taptık proposed a barter of food recipes with his photographs, thinking about lineage and displacement; Nardane Kuşçu placed a group of wild herbs next to Kaide, referring to the mediators of knowledge in nature; Ayşe Umur gifted us the book The Treasure Chests of Mnemosyne by artist Sarkis and art historian Uwe Fleckner, asking how soil could become a space of memory; Banu Cennetoğlu sent a discard, a muddy liquid that traveled from a stone cleaning sink—at a lithography atelier where a work of hers was produced—into a jar in our space; Leyla Pekin exhibited Hale Tenger’s Give Me Back My Innocence (2005) which she borrowed from Tansa Mermerci Ekşioğlu’s private collection, questioning the economies of trust and desire while juxtaposing the precious and fragile with Kaide’s common material and massive form; Tolga Tüzün composed a sound piece that abstracted the stratified qualities of the rammed-earth; Saruhan Doğan framed a deed document to highlight land ownership as the epitome of a discussion about private property and so-called absolute proof of ownership; Emrah Altınok hid a poem in the exhibition space, alluding to the relationship between soil and death; and Ali Cindoruk designed info-cards for each guest as well as a visual that abstracts and levels all contributions to Kaide.

On May 26th between 6.30–8PM, we are thrilled to organize a discussion with our participants to further exchange and cultivate thoughts and questions. We hope you can join us for this exciting conversation.

The talk will be held in Turkish. The event is free and open to all.

Image: Nazım Can Cihan and Aslıhan Demirtaş with Kaide, 2016, at collectorspace. Photo: Ali Taptık.

March 8-May 31, 2017

Participants: Ali Taptık, Bostancı’s Recipe Book (March 29-April 3); Nardane Kuşçu, Wild (April 4-11); Ayşe Umur, The Treasure Chests of Mnemosyne (April 12-18); Banu Cennetoğlu, discard (April 19-25); Leyla Pekin, Give Me Back My Innocence (April 26-May 2); Tolga Tüzün, Purrrr (May 3-9); Emrah Altınok, plinth:poem (May 17-23); Ali Cindoruk (March 29-May 31)

Aslıhan Demirtaş’s Kaide [Plinth] (2016) is a sculptural work made of rammed earth. “Plinth” is one of the several meanings of the word kaide in Turkish, which also means principle, foundation, and rule—words that have distinct relationships to soil. With Kaide, Demirtaş alludes to traditional growing beds still used at Istanbul’s Historical Yedikule Urban Vegetable Gardens, and brings attention to how one senses and values soil. The work explores what soil is beyond its utilitarian materiality in cultivation and possession, and opens up discussions on ownership, inheritance, and cultural heritage.

Throughout the spring, collectorspace and Demirtaş invite a group of artists, collectors, thinkers, and farmers—with distinct collecting practices—to provide a piece from their collection to be exhibited on or with Kaide. Through these contributions, we hope to explore topics on cultural heritage—both tangible and intangible—embedded in soil, and evaluate our relative efforts in preserving and activating those two complimentary but different forms. As a recurrent theme on our program, we also aim to touch on the potential of collecting beyond accumulation of precious objects, and inquire into the notion of collective ownership as it relates to soil as well as artworks.

Kaide <> Ali Taptık <> Bostancı’s Recipe Book
March 29-April 4, 2017
Ali Taptık’s postcards act as a greeting and an invitation to barter. For his upcoming publication “Bostancı’s Recipe Book,” Taptık uses postcards to collect recipes from Istanbulites in exchange for photographs he took at Historical Vegetable Gardens in Yedikule. He seeks to trace a variety of local recipes—coming from exhibition-goers, local chefs, and farmers—and treats them as cultural forms and markers of heritage. The publication explores the entanglements of Yedikule Gardens, as well as the notions of lineage, permanence, and displacement.

Kaide <> Nardane Kuşçu <> Wild
April 4–11, 2017
What kind of knowledge does the earth possess? For Nardane Kuşçu, a collector of heirloom seeds, the earth is a foundation, a common ground and a social network where there is a constant exchange of knowledge. To accompany Aslıhan Demirtaş’s Kaide, Kuşçu brings a group of wild herbs to collectorspace, which she inventories and borrows from Narköy—an ecological farm she co-founded. Ranging from melissa, common poppy and chicory to patient dock and roundleaf mallow, these herbs are not unwanted guests but rather mediators of knowledge between generations. The selection refers to the principles of nature, such as creativity, dynamism and integrity, and brings up the question what one could learn from the wild and untamed.

Kaide <> Ayşe Umur <> The Treasure Chests of Mnemosyne
April 12–18, 2017
Art historian Uwe Fleckner states that “If the memory goddess Mnemosyne is the mother of the nine Muses in Ancient Mythology, that means that memory is the source and the foundation of the arts.” To accompany Kaide, Ayşe Umur brings The Treasure Chests of Mnemosyne to collectorspace. Made in collaboration between Fleckner and Sarkis, the publication acts as an art book and an anthology of philosophy, as it brings together photographs taken at Sarkis’s studio and selected texts on memory theory by a range of authors from Plato to Derrida. First published in German in 1995 and in Turkish in 2016 by Umur Publishing, the book emphasizes the collective memory in the arts, and together with Kaide, it explores how earth could become a space of memory.

Kaide <> Banu Cennetoğlu <> ıskarta?
April 19–25, 2017
the eye that eyes the essentia the substantia
is also here [can substance be seen?].
did you carve the stone?
move away and look.
don’t be stoned about your carving
be stoned about the stone
then go wherever you go, the stone shall be yours.
because the world whirls you not
it whirls and whirls around itself
—Franko Buskas. Translated from Turkish by Fulya Peker for e-pub Graft by Aslıhan Demirtaş to be published by SALT, 2017.
Lithography masters Sarah and Uli (Keystone Editions) worked with Banu for four weeks (February 6–March 6, 2017), and by her request, poured some of the discard—made of sea shells, coral particles, emery powder, limestone powder, oil-based ink, gum arabic, nitric acid, and miscellaneous memory fragments—that has accumulated in their stone cleaning sink into a jar, and sent it to Istanbul with a dear friend (March 30, 2017). With Aslıhan and Özge’s invitation, ıskarta (discard) now accompanies Kaide.

Kaide <> Leyla Pekin <> Give Me Back My Innocence
April 26-May 2
Does earth belong to everyone or no one? Or to some? For Kaide, Aslıhan Demirtaş borrows 1.5 tons of soil, which will go back to where it came from at the close of the exhibition. Taking her cue from this gesture, collector Leyla Pekin brings an artwork she borrows from Tansa Mermerci Ekşioğlu’s collection to collectorspace, to explore common ownership models in contemporary art. Hale Tenger’s Give Me Back My Innocence (2005) consists of a crystal shoe on a velvet pillow, covered with a glass bell jar, sitting on its own pedestal, and questions the perception of freedom and happiness in a consumer society. Its title inspired by the lyrics of a Laurie Anderson song, The Day The Devil, the work calls to mind a story without a happy ending, contrary to what the folktales would project. After all, how would it be possible to take back innocence, and resist against the economy of desire?

Kaide <> Tolga Tüzün <> Purrrr
May 3–9, 2017
How does one sense the piece of earth on display here? Taking his cue from this question, Tolga Tüzün composes a work that transforms the cross-section of Aslıhan Demirtaş’s Kaide into a sound piece, abstracting the seemingly monolithic qualities of the the rammed-earth installation. The six-minute piece shows a linear yet drifting character, reinforcing and prolonging sounds in its duration. Playing with the viewer’s habits of perception, Tüzün alters the perceived stability of Kaide while alluding to the earth’s vibrational pulse at the same time.

Kaide <> Saruhan Doğan <> Deed
May 10–16, 2017

Kaide <> Emrah Altınok <> plinth:poem
May 17–23, 2017

it’s only a few steps away from you. you’re very close. follow the instructions to reach it:

first step:
face the plinth with the white shelf on your right.
[plinth: earth. simply earth.]
plinth of the earth, the earth itself.
at your arm’s length. greet it.
it greets you back.

second step:
scan the worn-out edges and corners of the plinth with your eyes.
[plinth: imperfect perfect. incomplete completeness.]
lies like a living dead in front of you.
this is why it’s all the same,
what sustains the world, what kills the world.

third step:
walk to the other side of the plinth.
as you arrive, direct your eyes from your feet
to the base of the plinth.
what you see is sheerly a world with scattered parts.
[plinth: belongs to no one, belongs to everyone.]
irreversible. entropy.

fourth step:
find the long black stain on the wooden floor, connecting the plinth to the wall.
you’ll see a baseboard where the stain ends and opens to the city.
bend down and find the folded poem, hidden in the open end of the baseboard.
[poem: sets in place all that scatters around. plinth.]
read it. brace and embrace.
then fold it and neatly place it back,
as if nothing happened.

Kaide <> Ali Cindoruk <> Wheel
March 29–May 31, 2017

Throughout the spring, Aslıhan Demirtaş and collectorspace have invited a group of artists, collectors, and farmers with distinct collecting practices to contribute to Kaide for one week with a piece that reflects on soil, memory, and collecting. Ali Cindoruk has registered each guest’s contribution on indexical cards that have accumulated throughout the exhibition to eventually form a site- and time-specific inventory of Kaide‘s collection. Cindoruk finalizes his contribution with a compacting and summarizing image, that borrows and abstracts elements from each guest—a jar, a shoe, a plant, and a postal stamp, among others. His gesture alludes to the encounters and temporalities that have been formed with and around Kaide itself.

* * *

Aslıhan Demirtaş is an architect and the principal of the interdisciplinary studios Aslihan Demirtas Architecture & Research Office and KHORA (founded with Ali Cindoruk) based in Istanbul and New York. Her practice purposefully crosses territories and boundaries of disciplines in the forms of building, landscape, installation projects, and exhibitions, as well as research. Her work threads through subjects and places such as urban agriculture, infrastructure, landscape, architectural knitting/weaving, activism through design, and any other coincidental commissions of architecture, landscape, and design.

Demirtaş holds a SMarchs from MIT, Cambridge, MA, and a BArch from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara. She is currently working on her upcoming e-book Graft to be published by SALT in 2017 with the support of Graham Foundation Grant she received in 2013, and on the strategic renovation of the Lumbardhi Cinema in Prizren. She is an active member of the Initiative for the Protection of the Historical Yedikule Urban Gardens, working to keep the 1,500 year old urban agriculture heritage and landscape of Istanbul.

***

1.5 ton of soil, clay, flax fiber, fine grain küfeki stone, and terracotta
1 m x 1.5 m x 0.55 m

Earth ramming by Nazım Can Cihan and Sadık Atar
Documentation by Ali Taptık

Many thanks to Ali Cindoruk, Yiğit Ozar, and to all of our participants.

October 27–December 24, 2016

Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam from collectorspace on Vimeo.

First Seen (2008) is an installation constituent of a framed vintage album print, a book, and a magnifying glass. In this work, Matts Leiderstam uses a tropical scenery photograph, taken during United States Navy’s expedition in Panama in 1870–71, and combines this print with a book and his own text, questioning how the preconditions—biography, bibliography, and provenance—influence the act of seeing. Leiderstam pushes this question further by placing a magnifying glass on the book, to focus the viewer’s gaze on the photographer’s image reproduced here, previously (falsely) used as proof of the photograph’s authenticity. The artist plays with the creation and perception of the photograph by subverting the gazes of the photographer, his subject, and the viewer. In his practice, Leiderstam often uses the tools of an art historian investigating historical accounts and contexts of images to create bodily experiences for the viewers.

collectorspace brings First Seen from the Wilfried Lentz Collection based in Rotterdam. Together with Carla de Kovel, Wilfried Lentz started buying artworks in the late 1980s, at that time primarily acquiring photography. Lentz’s collecting practice has led him to be the first director of SKOR in 2000, an art institution that developed projects in relation to the public domain, and then open a gallery in Rotterdam in 2008, which has allowed him to form long-term collaborations with artists. Also one of the founders of C.o.C.A. (Collectors of Contemporary Art)—a foundation that supports new artistic production in the Netherlands—Lentz provides a reference point for how a collector could act as a producer, going beyond accumulating existing artworks. In his practice, he explores the ways to negotiate the roles of collector and gallerist, and dealing with potential conflicts of interest that may arise from merging these positions.

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Matts Leiderstam (b. 1956, Gothenburg) received his Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Malmö Art Academy, Lund University in 2006. He completed his MA at University of Gothenburg Valand Academy and BA at Konstfack College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm. Recent solo exhibitions include Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa (2011); Grazer Kunstverein, Graz (2010); Malmö Art Museum, Malmö (2010); and Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (2010). Leiderstam’s work has been exhibited in numerous group shows, such as Identity. Behind the Curtain of Uncertainty, The National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kiev (2016), the 8th Berlin Biennale, Berlin (2014), Ciclorama, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2013), Modernautställningen, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2011), and The End of Money, Witte de With, Rotterdam (2011), among others. Leiderstam is represented by Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam and Andrehn-Schiptienko Gallery, Stockholm. He lives and works in Stockholm.

Wilfried Lentz is a collector of contemporary art and founder of the gallery Wilfried Lentz in Rotterdam. Lentz was the founding director of SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Domain), and worked there between 2000–08. Lentz and Carla de Kovel collaborated with the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in 2007 for Private / Public, an exhibition around the idea of landscape and photography, where works from their private collection and the Boijmans’s collection were exhibited together both in the museum and in their home that was temporarily open to the public. Lentz opened his gallery with an exhibition by Matts Leiderstam in 2008. His collection includes works with a shared interest in current cultural and social issues, with a wide range of media, including film, photography, performance, and installation.

Supported in part by Consulate General of Sweden, Istanbul.

Alientos (2012) by Julião Sarmento

Guest Curator: Luiza Teixeira de Freitas

March 18–May 14, 2016

November 4, 2015–January 2, 2016

Thursday, October 8, 2015, 6.30pm, collectorspace

In conjunction with the exhibition The Lookout from the Kadist Collection, collectorspace hosts a conversation between Aslıhan Demirtaş and Ali Taptık—two practitioners who pursue artistic and academic research while collaborating in urban farming initiatives in Istanbul. Demirtaş and Taptık will depart from Jean-Luc Moulène’s The Lookout (extrait 6) (2004–2011) and explore its relation to street photography, spontaneous vegetation in urban areas, as well as the ideas of resistance, resilience and hope.

La Vigie (extrait 6) is part of Jean-Luc Moulène’s photographic essay about a princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa) that keeps sprouting in the cracked sidewalk across from the Ministry for the Economy, Industry, and Employment in Paris. The princess tree—the observer and the observed in this series—is known for its adaptability, fast growth, and invasive qualities; its ability to sprout prolifically from adventitious buds on stems and roots allows it to survive fire, cutting, and even bulldozing. It is this resilient tree that bears witness to the daily events that take place in this popular spot for public protests in front of the Ministry also referred to as ‘Bercy Fortress.’ La Vigie (extrait 6) presents eight pairs of images from the entire series of 299 photographs that document the state of the tree (usually the early phases of the sprout, full of potential for change and long-term resistance—a recurrent theme in Moulène’s practice) as well as the view from the sprout’s perspective on a particular day during a seven year time span.

The event is free and open to all. The talk will be held in Turkish.

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Aslıhan Demirtaş is an architect. She is the founder of Aslihan Demirtas Design and Research Studio, based in Istanbul and New York.

Ali Taptık is an artist, photographer and architect. He is currently a PhD candidate in Architectural Design at Istanbul Technical University.

Image courtesy of the artist and Kadist Art Foundation.

August 26–October 24, 2015

La Vigie (extrait 6) (2004–2011) is part of Jean-Luc Moulène’s photographic essay about a Princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa) that keeps sprouting in the cracked sidewalk across from the French Ministry for the Economy, Industry, and Employment in Paris. The Princess tree—the observer and the observed in this series—is known for its adaptability, fast growth, and invasive qualities; its ability to sprout prolifically from adventitious buds on stems and roots allows it to survive fire, cutting, and even bulldozing. It is this resilient tree that bears witness to the daily events that take place in this popular spot for public protests in front of the Ministry also referred to as “Bercy Fortress.” La Vigie (extrait 6) presents eight pairs of images from the entire series of 299 photographs that document the state of the tree (usually the early phases of the sprout, full of potential for change and long-term resistance—a recurrent theme in Moulène’s practice) as well as the view from the sprout’s perspective on a particular day during a seven year time span.

collectorspace brings La Vigie (extrait 6) from the collection of the Kadist Art Foundation, based in Paris and San Francisco. Initiated by Vincent Worms in collaboration with Sandra Terdjman in 2001, Kadist has developed an international contemporary art collection that puts transparency and social engagement at the core of its mission. To these ends, Kadist makes the content of its collection public online, and closely works with artists through its residency and exhibition programs. Kadist employs the expertise of curators and art historians in developing the collection, challenging the familiar format of individual-centric private collections. It pays special attention to represent the art production from different regions of the world by selecting advisors who possess an in-depth understanding of a particular region on top of their global competence.  With Kadist, collectorspace aims to present a reference point for a professionally-managed, mission-driven private initiative and its collection.

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Jean-Luc Moulène (b. 1955, Reims) studied aesthetics and the sciences of art at the Sorbonne University in Paris. His work has been shown at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2016); Villa Medici, Rome (2015); Kunstverein, Hannover (2015); Beirut Art Center (2013); Modern Art Oxford, Oxford (2012); Dia Art Foundation, New York (2011); Carré d’art – Musée d’art contemporain, Nîmes (2009); Culturgest, Lisbon (2007); Jeu de Paume and Musée du Louvre, Paris (2005). He has been featured in group exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo, Paris; François Pinault Foundation, Venice; CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Sharjah Biennial; Witte de With, Rotterdam; Venice Biennale; and Documenta 10, Kassel. The artist lives and works in Paris.

Kadist Art Foundation aims to encourage the contribution of the arts to society. Its programs support the engagement of artists with contemporary issues, and promote their role as cultural agents. The advisors for the collection include Philippe Pirotte, Dean of the Staedelschule and Director of Portikus, Frankfurt; Jean-Marc Prévost, Director, Carré d’Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Nîmes; Hou Hanru, Artistic Director of MAXXI National Museum of the XXI Century Arts, Rome; Jens Hoffmann, Deputy Director of the Jewish Museum, New York, among others. The collection includes more than 1,000 artworks in various media by some of the most influential artists working today.

Image: Jean Luc Moulène, La Vigie (extrait 6), (2004–2011), detail.

Image courtesy of the artist and the Kadist Art Foundation.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015, 6.30pm at collectorspace

collectorspace is pleased to organize a conversation between Irina Zucca Alessandrelli, curator of Collezione Ramo in Milan and Istanbul-based curator Nazlı Gürlek. The talk is held in conjunction with the exhibition Collezione Ramo with Untitled: A work by Jannis Kounellis.

What is the impulse of a collection to be medium-specific? How does a private collection explore the versatility in the medium of drawing and make it visible in the public domain? Taking their cues from these questions, Zucca Alessandrelli and Gürlek will discuss about Collezione Ramo that focuses on works on paper as a primary form of expression.

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Irina Zucca Alessandrelli is the curator of Collezione Ramo in Milan. She holds an MA in Curatorial Studies from Columbia University in New York. Focusing on the medium of drawing, Collezione Ramo seeks to document the diverse stylistic approaches of the 20th century.

Nazlı Gürlek is an independent curator and writer based in Istanbul. She holds an MFA in Curating from Goldsmiths College in London. She currently works as the Guest Curator of the Collection at Borusan Contemporary in Istanbul.

A work on paper by Jannis Kounellis

June 10–August 8, 2015