Shop I Am
This work has a clear vision asking the question: “Is fashion inextricably linked to identity and at what cost does this have on our environment”? Through this investigation we explore questions around “If or should fashion be striving to reflect the zeitgeist of our time, as fleeting as it is”?
“Nebahat Erpolat cleverly makes references to popular culture, art and music to engage viewers to rethink fashion and societal identities that are associated with the industry. Two dancers, Emma Riches and Benjamin Hurley, move freely throughout the gallery space. Both rely on human reaction and a wearer or performer to have the ability to question, comment and communicate to audiences through a shared understanding of the body.” (Australian Arts Review 2017).
This work embodies the idea of rethinking fashion as an identity construct using dance as it’s medium in a creative and immersive presentation. Fashion plays an implicit role in our social interactions, in shaping and shifting our perceptions of what is ‘in’ and ‘out’, ‘important/not important’, ‘acceptable /other’ at a high cost to the environment.
I will use my residency to further refine the work. This dance work is ideal for the space, as it was created to be presented in unconventional stage space and the festival context.
What people are saying about Shop I Am
"An experimental dance work that brimmed with liveliness and interaction with the audience and setting, SHOP I AM was a riveting work that required us to interrogate our relationship with image, and our own ideals and projections." — Leila Lois, Arts Hub 4-star review"Erpolat’s decision to remove the perimeter fence that normally encloses the theatre spectacle and allow the happenstance of the outside world to spill into the work means that the cast of Shop I Am includes not simply two dancers but the nominative audience and, to some extent, random passers-by" — Paul Ransom, Dance Informa review"A work that mingled boldness and tenderness with high impact" — Leila Lois, Arts Hub 4-star review"One the smartest, bravest uses of the “site-specific” meme I have encountered. With its multiple layers and daring elimination of the “silo of theatre”, it manages to bring us not merely close to the work but to slyly insert us and the QV crowds right into the heart of the matter." — Paul Ransom, Dance Informa review
Choreography by Nebahat ErpolatDancers Benjamin Hurley, Emma Riches & Sarah KarklinsCostume Designer Sarah KarklinsDramaturge Stephane HislerSound Artist Daniel TucceriPerformed: at 2017 Melbourne Fringe Festival at Q.V Gallery Melbourne & PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2023 at West End Art Space Melbourne.
