A Story Behind A Story Behind A Story
Art acts as an actitivst in times of war –
an international artproject questions image-reality
Ella Spector (Israel) and Belit Sağ (Turkey)
together with students of Gymnasium Blankenese
Opening: Wednesday, July 15th 2015, 20:00 o‘clock
Exhibition period: July 15. – 26. 2015
War rules. Around the world people become victims of attacks, kidnapping, massacre, destruction, of hunger, thirst and epidemic. Some try their escape to europe, those of which manage to survive, might cross german borders. Subject of war and faith engage. Most of what we have come to know about war, we experience through media, therefore it is unsure how much of the chosen repertory, adaptation and contextualization of imagery, film and text actually create a warped reality, or a reasonable documentization.
Real exposure with refugees is utterly overcharged with xenophobic imagery, that arouse resentment and fuel prejudice.
What would be an adequate reaction, a reasonable documentization?
What are the alternatives for imagery frenzy? How do media and reality relate? What role does art play?
FRISE – Künstlerhaus Hamburg e.V. and Kulturbehörde Hamburg asked themselves these exact questions and are initiating a Artist-in-Residence-Pro-gramme together this summer. As a reaction towards the current and ongoing strife in this world. The project is titled “A Story Behind a Story Behind a Story”.
Invited are the two media-artists Ella Spector from Israel and Belit Sağ from Turkey, to work together for the whole month of july on questions of geopolitical conflict, intercultural communications and artistic subversion in times of strife. Together with students of Gymnasiums Blankenese a one week workshop will be held, where the issue of war is approached from an artistic viewpoint. These artistic viewpoints from students and artists will be showcased at Künstlerhaus FRISE from July 15th 2015.
Information about the artists:
Belit Sağ
works and lives in Amsterdam
http://bit.contrast.org & vimeo.com/belit
belit@artikisler.net
„Sag analyses news, media, and entertainment images creating new
narratives from her findings. The video work and the image gazes back
questions the role of images in current and historical events.
For example Sa? ponders the similarities between one of the shots in
ISIS’s execution video of James Foley and a shot in the final scene of
the movie Seven, both of which feature a decapitation. She discusses the
re- and pre-mediation of images—the way they appear and reappear either
deliberately or accidentally. Her findings are an artistic investigation
in what it means to live in a world where fiction and non-fiction influence
each other in ways we can’t even imagine. …“ ArtSlant, 2014
Education
2012/2013 art&research honours program (uni. of amsterdam & g.rietveld acad.)
2009/2013 gerrit rietveld academy, audiovisual department, amsterdam
2000/2004 gisam (audiovisual systems research center), metu, ankara
1998/2004 mathematics department, metu, ankara (bs)
Residencies
2014/2015 rijksakademie residency, amsterdam, nl
Fellowships/grants
2014/2015 mondriaanfonds, nl
2014/2015 prins bernhard cultuurfonds, nl
2014/2015 saha, tr
Selected exhibitions/performances/screenings
2014
rijksakademieOPEN, amsterdam/nl
closer to Gaza auction exhibition, kuhlhaus, berlin, germany
recent videos and documentaries from the middle east, zkm, karlsruhe/de
2013
black out (video), the inaugural artlacuna film festival, london/uk
‘you loved her’ & first day of superman, damascus visual arts festival,
january/may monthly video-bites, fontrodona artspace, amsterdam/nl
2012
present perfect tense (perf.), holland festival, amsterdam/nl
god forbid! & first day of superman (video), ladyfest, leipzig/de
gerrit’s haarsalon group performance, studium generale shadow cabinet, amsterdam/nl
FRISE Arnoldstrasse 26-30 | 22765 Hamburg
Künstlerhaus Hamburg Abbildungszentrum
„and the image gazes back “, 2014, Video Still
Ella Spector
Born 1979 in Israel
Site: http://ellaspector.tumblr.com/
email: ella.spector@gmail.com
The practice of Ella Spector, (1979, Tel Aviv) exists in the space between
cinematic representations and private emotions. Deeply existential, Spector’s
works employ props from cinema and TV sets – such as cameras, spotlights, and
lightning gears – in order to conceive immersive installations and conceptual
sculptures that question the notion of beauty, magic, alchemy, truth and
deception. Technological and at the same time poetical, Spector’s modus
operandi embraces all the aforementioned notions as a whole, attempting to
erase any possible distinction dictated by language or any other cultural
convention.
Education
2013-2015 Bezalel MFA, Tel-Aviv
2012 Weißensee Kunsthochschule, MA in Space Strategies, Berlin
2008 Hongik University of Seoul South Korea; Student exchange program
2005-2009 Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
2004 Hamidrash school of Arts
Prizes & Scholarships
2015 A-Z West, Joshua Tree, California, USA
2013 Residency at the Arava desert of Israel
2012 Tel Aviv municipality; Grant of space to conduct a special project
2007 Cooper Prize, Bezalel Fine Arts Dep.
Exhibitions
2015
‘In a broken dream’ MFA graduation show‘4 Rooms’
Gabirol space for arts’ Tel Aviv; 4 solo shows
2014
‘Happy End’ On the Cliff gallery, Netanya; Solo show
‘Asonologia’ Petach Tikva museum of art; group exhibition
‘Fresh Paint’ special edition, private Art Fair, Tel-Aviv
FRISE Arnoldstrasse 26-30 | 22765 Hamburg
Künstlerhaus Hamburg Abbildungszentrum