BEGÜM ÇELİK

I believe that cinema can be defined as an allegory of the mirror. This simile will not be built solely by focusing on the mirror scenes in the films but by comparing psychoanalytic aspects of both the cinema as an art form and the mirror. I will start with the emphasis on Lacan’s Mirror Stage since it is a formative theory about how the image of self is created before language and why it is crucial for a human being to function as a unified viable entity. Firstly, it can be claimed that humans are not born with an adequate number of instincts to make them conceptualize disparate bodily experiences. Therefore, the relation between the organism and its reality is needed to be established in order to differentiate the external and internal stimulants. In the mirror stage where the infants come across with their reflection, this “separation-individuation” is formed for the sake of ego subjectivity, since the baby observes its own body integrity in a full-length mirror. In the times that h...

Mirror as a reflective surface has a metaphorical meaning in itself beyond its physical function. The introduction of the mirror to an infant triggers the formation of “I” at the very early months of lifespan as Lacan states in The Mirror Stage. From that point on, the mirror becomes something that captures the projection of self. That being the case, the mirror has been placed into many films since both the camera and mirror act as an external eye. As Godard states “Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self” and the mirror is used by many directors while revealing the inner self.   First, I will be focusing on the mirror as a projector of the ego ideal. The term “ego ideal” is defined as the inner image of oneself as one wants to become, ideal selfhood. The mirror can be functioning in two opposite directions depending on the character’s psychological state. First, it can be the disconnection of the self and ego ideal resulting in depression when the ide...

The mirror is a coated surface that reflects a clear image of reality as any dictionary may define. However, the image that is seen by one would not solely be the clear image of reality, when the psychological state of whom is taken into consideration. The identification of self and the image of oneself that is intended to be seen through reflection may not be overlapping in several moments, it can be even the opposite. The ideal self that one wants to become is described as “ego ideal” which is desired to be seen when one looks toward its reflection. This relationship of one and its ego ideal is depicted through mirror scenes in the cinema since the mirror is a powerful metaphor in the case of referring interrelation of these terms. In cinema many of the characters who are in depressive states are depicted as they are falling apart from their reflections by putting distance in between the mirror and the performer, or placing the mirror in an unreachable position, indicating the discon...

I believe that the artworks based on traditional mediums are not sufficient anymore in the case of interacting with its audience, because of the mass image consumption and low attention time of today’s people. Thus, the audience acts as a “passive observer” in front of these conventional works of art. That being the case, the observation of the audience can not transform into an individual experience especially in organizations like art fairs where the space is limited regarding the number of the exhibited artworks. Newer, more experimental forms of art are needed to make it experienced. That’s why I put performance at the center of my artistic creation. I prioritize the artistic creative process over an end product. In performative artworks, the creative process itself is presented with all of its being while open to any kind of manipulation, in contrast to a painting that is bought by one who owns a matching interior design. Both the space where the performance comes into existence a...

I interpret art as a way to escape the physical world we are into, meanwhile, it leads into another more comprehensive reality. In this reality, we don’t need words that limit the concept, in contrast, an unrestricted way of communication is possible through art. Beyond thinking through language, the experience of feelings develops the process of creating. The sensory system we build our perception upon makes it feasible for us to interact with the surrounding stimulants, and these stimulants are a method of manipulation within the space to create an experience as my art practice. Within meditative states of the body or psychotherapeutic processes, we can determine specific complications and traumas which are lying in our subconsciousness through physical scanning. Thus, it becomes possible to realize the relation between body and mind. The body as an expressive tool reacts to what we experience, my muscles, gesture, and posture is my instrument, that’s why I put performance or “act” i...