URBAN LOUSY @ BERLIN 18th JUNE – 21th JUNE CIRCUS CHARIVARI http://www.circuscharivari.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=48&Itemid=76
Its eyes turned green with jealousy, our path it crossed. That green-eyed thing, market of arts as it was disguised, said, “You are mine”, and then we fled. It wanted us as a trophy wife for a poseur’s call, a mistress on the fetishist institution’s hall, and we fled. It was a roaming biennial, a different love story we enjoyed. Landing from Istanbul to Berlin and Belgrade, ours was not the only path for sure, on which its green-eyes dawned. Once upon a time, and under a desiring gaze, freak is the one the green-eyed thing looked out; it was a duty call. For, on the outskirts of the circus and the fair, exoticism is the freak’s license; he was set out for a stroll. If a connoisseur was willing to pay for a glance, the freak was tolerated to get out, within the limits of the wall. Often the freak was strong enough, then opened an arena, and he was let out, as long as the patrons did not appall. When the patrons asked for entertainment, to their table came the freak, allowed to sit out, but not for hospitality at all. The creatures to be moved out, boot out, walled out, put out; they are called freaks, the subject we address with the words below. Take the freak as the scary monster, the creepy creature, anyone unusual, in his physical appearance or patterns of behavior. Freakiness is in the eyes of the beholder, may he be the patron or the connoisseur, guarded by eyes so green, and up above. New rules of inclusion and exclusion are set in the city; gentrification and security are the themes that blink on the shiny screen, hung on the city’s door. In today’s cityscape, the connoisseur is after exchanging a glance, a glance that would maximize his gain, make him want more and more again. For the green-eyed thing, this is the sign of the times, today’s ultimate claim. As the search for gain lands him on urban rent, appropriating the place the freak lives in becomes the connoisseur’s aim. The connoisseur is taken over by the green-eyed thing, to say it once again. Read jealousy as greed, the connoisseur yearns to be the patron; green-eyes flare the same. Asking for more, the greedy displaces us, but not as a whole. First he targets the freak, questions what the freak is doing in this hole. “Get the hell out of here” says his inner voice. He whispers sweet words, but then comes an iron fist, banging on the freak’s door. He announces: “These freaks, aren’t they the criminals, threats, enemies? We have to get rid of them once and for all.” He demands stamps on ass, chips in arms, and says: “We can mop them out behind walls and barbed wires, outside the frontiers of our hall. Isn’t this the most secure and efficient of it all?” Gentrification, regeneration, sustainability is the catch phrase; the greedy is the connoisseur, the standard-bearer of this call. That green-eyed thing, it fixes the desiring gaze on them again. The greedy is able to reconstruct the freak, searching to maximize his gain. There is the exotic, the gifted, the beautiful among the freak, why bother the slain. He takes the talent, exhibits the gift, embodies the beauty, the genie, whatever the freak has as for a peculiarity; this is his optimistic claim. “Enjoy the bridge… Join the dialogue… Cooperate…” he says, without any shame. When recruitment does not pay, he can start all over again. He institutes a brand new market; grins the green-eyed thing, for this is in its name. “The city does not want you, if you do not have market value.” says the green-eyed thing, it is the command. No room for mockery, criticism or comment. Those who dare to challenge this, grow a third eye, sixth finger, a tail or a horn. They become the freak, the threat, the enemy; the greedy is in a battle, but he is not forlorn. They have a file, wide open, seen with eyes so green. “Bio-measure out, gene out, heat out, but efficiently”, so says the decree. It is written in the greedy’s name, with the highest degree of security. “The city does not want you, if you do not buy market value” adds the greedy; it makes the green-eyes gleam. “Consumption means acceptability, otherwise it is freaky” are the words that go with the stream. The stream pushes the freak to a distant playground, only there, he is let to live, go wild and scream. Yet he should not leave the playground, as the mess scattered outside these limits, contaminates the dream. The dream belongs to the green-eyed thing; without the freak in it, the city is secure, neat and clean. In matters of inclusion and exclusion, the patrons’ authority is absolute; the green-eyed thing is in vain. Do not ask whether the connoisseur is jealous of the freak; his home, his peculiarity, his existence is in line, for the sake of greed. The gods of the new and expanding market are now disguised as high-security, they demand obedience; otherwise you are the broken reed. They ask for sacrifice, day in, day out, this is how the green-eyes feed. Yet it wants new flavors after a point of saturation, meaning sacrifices in new terrains, in a more exotic breed. Urban-lousy, patrons-greedy, take jealousy as the base-line or the cream. Freakiness is in the eyes of the beholder; the beholder looks for new markets, it is not a daydream. The freaks become the new dragons, cyclops, monsters, creeps, dinosaurs of the old maps; the unknown is hand in hand with any unbearable thing. What are the freaks supposed to do then? We do not know, nor can we provide the ultimate cling. Keep in mind, there are escape routes for the unrecruitable, and they are on the brink.In the escape routes, let us not hesitate being lousier than the cityscape, and care to fall no prey to the greedy, the security, nor to become a decoration in the extended market scheme. Let us keep on becoming the dragons, cyclops, monsters, creeps, dinosaurs, freaks of our own maps, speak our own words independently, get together and then flee in different directions, taking pains to remain outside in every moment and in every scene.http://urbanlousy.com/
Sanat piyasası “ya benimsin, ya toprağın” diyordu, biz de kaçtık. Bir para babasına eş(ya) olmamak için kaçtık, sanat aşığı kurumsal yapılara metres olmamak için kaçtık. Yaptığımız Gezici Bienal başka bir aşk hikayesiydi. Istanbul’dan Berlin’e oradan Belgrad a konduk . Bir kentten bir kente konarken, tek kıskanılan biz değildik zaten. Hilkat garibeleri, ucubeler vardı mesela. Çoğunluğu mahlukattan sayılır, kenara köşeye tıkılır, görünmesin diye etrafı sarılır, görünenin kafası taşla yarılırdı. Yeterince egzotikse bu hilkat garibesi, kenarda durmak için izinli sayılırdı. Birisi bi’bakıp çıkmak için para sayardı ya, sirkin panayırın köşesinde, ona müsamaha tanınırdı. Yeterince kuvvetliyse mahluk, arenaya salınırdı. Muktedirleri eğlendirdiği sürece, ucubeye yer ayrılırdı. Meraklısı kıskanır mıydı hilkat garibesini? Ucubede iktidar sahibine ait ne vardı? Bugünün kentinin meraklısı da bi’bakıp çıkıp, kar etmenin peşinde. Bugünün kentinde de meraklısı, iktidar derdinde. Yeri geldiğinde, gözü garibenin durduğu yerin ta kendisinde. Bugünün kentinde büyük paralar araziden kazanılırken, iktidar derdindeki, hinoğlu hin, kıskançlığının kökü açgözlülüğünde. Açgözlü, paraya para dememek için, herkesi yerinden etme işinde. Mesela o ucubenin ne işi var ki o kadar değerli yerde? “Gitsinler bunlar buradan” derken çeşitli yollara baş vurulmakta , gerektiğinde güç kullanılmakta, “… bunlar suçludur, düşmandır, tehdittir” de işin bahanesi olmakta. kıçına bir damga basıp, kolluna bir çip takıp, en etkin en ucuz yöntemle, uzağa atılması, duvarlar, teller ardına koyulması gerekmekte. Mekanın ancak öylece mutenalaşacağı, kentin ancak öylece yenileneceği ve hayatın da ancak öylece sürdürülebilir olacağı söylenmekte. Aynı zamanda açgözlü, paraya para dememek için, onları yeniden inşa etmenin de derdinde. Varsa bir egzotiği, yeteneklisi, güzeli, onun da becerisini alıp satmanın, teşhire koymanın, özelliğini, güzelliğini kendi bedenine yamamanın peşinde. Kendi yarattğı frankeştayn ile köprü ve diyalog işinde. Zaten icap ettiğinde devşirme mahlukları itinayla yaratma, pazarlama, olmadı piyasasını bizzat kurma yeteneğinde. Piyasada bir ederin yoksa, kent seni istememekte .Pazarlanamazlık üstü kuruntulu düzene gıcık gitme ihtimalin, altıncı parmağının, üçüncü gözünün, kuyruğunun, boynuzun yerine geçmekte. Fişlenme, şişlenme, kıçına damga, koluna bir çip, en ucuzundan, en etkininden defedilme, hapsedilme, defnedilme ihtimali senin önüne de gelmekte. Kentin açgözlü yeni efendileri “güvenlik… güvenlik…” diye inlemekte. Piyasa tanrısı, her günü güvenlik bayramından sayıp, kurban istemekte. Peki, eski haritaların yeni ejderhalarının, mahluklarının, dinozorlarının, ucubelerinin, hilkat garibelerinin ne yapması gerekmekte? Biz ne bilelim… Bi’düşününce, kent berbat, efendileri kıskanç. Derdimiz kıskançlığa yüz vermeyip, kaçak noktaları kovalamak ya, kaçak noktamız, yeri geldiğinde kentten daha berbat olmaktan çekinmemekte, bu arada, piyasaya götü kaptırmamaya, güvenliğe kurban gitmemeye , sermayenin dekoratif unsuru olmamaya itina etmekte. Ne diyelim…Kendi haritalarımızın mahlukları olmaya, kendi sözümüzü bağımsız söylemeye, bir araya gelmeye ve beş benzemez istikamete dağılmaya devam edelim.
