16/12/2023 - 24/02/2024

Zilberman is pleased to announce Sena Başöz’s solo exhibition titled Inevitable Choreography opening at the gallery’s main space located at the Mısır Apartment in Beyoğlu between December 16 2023 - February 24 2024. Inevitable Choreography brings together works spanning from Sena Başöz's earlier years and her more recent works, establishing a compelling dialogue between objects that have traversed her life.

Inevitable Choreography focuses on cycles and movement of objects from Sena Başöz’s personal archive which brings into mind the movement of the body around these objects across space and time. The artist delves into the relationship between the body, object and time by exploring the movement and the transient perception of the object.

Başöz predominantly works on seeking ways of interacting with what is considered out of reach and experimentally regenerating what is considered lost. In her practice, the artist delves into the body as an archive and movement as a tool to regenerate. She begins questioning movement as a tool for regeneration starting with her performance piece Slalom (2022), which investigates how a moving body can activate an institutional archive. Since then, the artist realized that, just like the body, objects also move and this mutual movement could be perceived as a choreography on the concept of impermanence. 

An unexpected reunion with a portrait, discarded in the trash two decades ago, compelled Başöz to reflect on the journey of an object. G., After a Long Stroll (2023), explores the temporal journey of an object separate from the intention of its creator. Departing from personal stories, Başöz  explores the notion objét trouvé, that of between the found and the lost, between an active research and a passive alertness, where the experience of objet trouvé happens to be, in that same interstice of time and space where the coincidence resides. 

Discovering an object often entails its initial loss. Such is the narrative woven into the new work titled The Last Time I Saw the Anchor that Sunk into the Sea and The Anchor that Came out of the Sea After Two Months (2023)”. This artwork encapsulates the moments surrounding the detachment of an anchor from the boat that the artist was on. Consequently, the anchor, now retrieved, inadvertently lost but subsequently recovered, is presented alongside the drawing, offering a tangible connection to the past, a relic to cling to.

The objét trouvé is recurrent throughout the exhibition; Başöz explores this notion not only through found possessions but also as a way of reminiscence of what is left from life. The Last Letter of a Porcupine (2023) is an attempt to assemble the purpose of a dead porcupine using its remains that the artist came across during a walk. Observing the left quills of a porcupine, the artist explores not only the journey of an object, but also the life behind it. This exploration prompts us to reconsider the intricate interplay between life, movement and the object itself.

Başöz perceives movement not merely as a fleeting attribute exclusive to the living, but rather as a catalyst for change and displacement even among inanimate objects. The piece Wind of Things (2023), artfully draws a parallel between the ponderous, immobile nature of an object and the ethereal force of the wind, crafting a compelling dichotomy between motion and stasis, weightiness and weightlessness. Inevitable Choreography reveals the intrinsic relationship between the static and the kinetic, along with what is lost and then found, offering a thought-provoking exploration of the profound transformations that movement can evoke, not only within the living but also within the very essence of objects.

For further information please contact Ece Ateş via ece@zilbermangallery.com

Her recent solo exhibitions and performances include “Slalom”, Wellcome Collection, London (2022); “Clam”, Matsutake at Librairie Yvon Lambert, Paris (2021); “Astronomical Movements”, Bilsart, Istanbul (2021); “Ars Oblivionis”, Lotsremark Projekte, Basel (2020); A Consolation, Krank Art Gallery, Istanbul (2020); “Hold on Let go”, MO-NO-HA Seongsu, Seoul (2020) and “On Lightness”, DEPO Istanbul (2018). She has participated in group exhibitions such as “There is Nothing Inevitable About Time”, TAVROS, Athens (2022); “This Place”, Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat, Istanbul (2021); “Transitorische Turbulenzen”, Kunstraum Dreiviertel, Bern (2020); “Studio Bosporus”, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2018); “Quiet Dialogue”, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum (2018) and “Sharjah Biennial Offsite Exhibition: BAHAR”, Istanbul (2017). She received her BA in Economics from Boğaziçi University in 2002 and MFA from Bard College Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts in Film and Video in 2010. She participated in artist residencies at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2017), Atelierhaus Salzamt, Linz (2010) and Delfina Foundation, London (2020-2022).

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