Biometric Hermit
A solo performance and an unstable choreography
Kleine Humboldt Galerie Berlin, July 2019
The Change Room London, May 2019
Studio 9294 London, May 2019
What does it mean to struggle as an emerging artist and curator in an ants nest such as London? Through this new performance, the artist Naz Balkaya is sharing her experience of dual ‘identity’, being an artist-curator in a foreign and capital city. A sound piece is leading you from room to room, from the outside to the inside, from hallway to toilet.
How overdue, over-criticised, and oversold is institutional critique? Why do institutions still marginalise different backgrounds, and more so, other experiences that fall just short of being or looking like 'the ideal candidate'? Who are we when entering the white cube, and who do we become upon retreat? As a Turkish cultural producer, the artist reflects on her experience as an outsider within the racist and pseudo-empowered structures that represent the local art scene, and highlights the conditions of being an immigrant and its correlation with feelings of displacement.
Written and Curated by Oana Damir