Size Magazine Interview with Bilgen Coşkun
“I believe we do better by stepping out of our own comfort zones. ”
Originally published on size-magazine.com
Nebahat Erpolat is a multi-talented artist and choreographer. She describes her artistic works as: “an attempt to bring into conscious awareness the social, cultural and political issues around me and to explore these primarily through the medium of my physical body but also within the context of unconscious and conscious “selves.” Visiting her at her Berlin studio, we discussed the ego, art and performance.
You were recently invited by a Berlin gallery to perform at Istanbul Contemporary Art. Could you briefly describe how your work, a live installation performance, was received at a venue associated primarily with the visual arts?
After performing “Cultural Memory”, I thought it was great that a number of people came up to talk to me. I was initially apprehensive about performing there, because I knew that most people attending would not have had much exposure to this type of art. And to live installation performance art, in particular. That’s why I was thrilled to receive such an enormously positive response.
“Cultural Memory”, as you define it, was a live performance art and installation work. You have also commenced your “Etiquette Series”, which is a series of works performed at very different locations. What is the inspiration behind these works, which are uniquely tailored to a particular site and which are so interdisciplinary in nature, combining sound, dance, live performance, video and photography so masterfully?
“Etiquette Series, Childhood Part 1” was performed in a fountain in Kreuzberg, Berlin and “Cultural Memory” at an international Art Fair in Istanbul. Both of these works are very abstract, very personal and were performed at unconventional locations. I definitely believe we do better by stepping out of our own comfort zones. Sound, dance, live video and text all support each other, and it is exciting to see how inseparable yet progressive each element is.
In that work you drew from memories conjured from a photo of your parents to create a work of very personal significance. How do you see the self and ego playing a role in the process of making dance and performance art works?
I was invited by a gallery to create a work on memory due to my own interest and ongoing exploration of memory as a theme in my works. I’m not sure I can define “the self” in brief, but I can say that the ego is part of the personality that mediates the demands of our basic urges of the id and the moral idealism of the superego. In this way, the conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious all shape my own process.
Do you think the ego can be used in art to transcend conventional norms, values and ideals?
Yes, it pushes us to know ourselves better and that opens the possibility for helping others achieve a paradigmatic shift in thought.
You have a strong academic background. You first graduated with a degree in political science and then continued with your postgraduate studies in dance in Melbourne. You are also a Turkish Australian. How do your cultural and academic backgrounds combine to influence your works and shape your future goals as a choreographer and performance artist?
Everything in my past, from my academic background to Turkish and Australian cultural influences, is paramount in shaping and informing my works and in propelling me ever further into new, unknown realms.
You are originally from Melbourne, Australia but lived for a number of years in Istanbul and now Berlin. Having worked in three of the world’s most artistically vibrant cities, do you see any common characteristics or obvious differences between the art scene and creative community in each city?
That’s difficult to answer because each of these cities has their own unique and complex historical legacies. Both Melbourne and Berlin have a long tradition of supporting the arts. Istanbul, on the other hand, is the current favorite child of the international art world, despite many issues surrounding its current political climate.
Your art is very personal and yet appears to be impermanent in form. What is your next project?
I am now preparing for the Transient Museum Festival in Berlin, which takes place between January 13 and February 6. I will be exhibiting a live video installation work entitled “The Burqa Project”. Mimicking the subject matter, I question the credence of morals and ethics by employing a tightly constructed and subdued physical space.
Read more about the work
Cultural Memory
A physical space of sensations, emotions and associations from a specific moment in time from the past.
