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Sanatorium: a venue of healing for young artists
“This is an ironic question, of course. We are not really asking a question. We are not interested in the answer. What’s important is the question itself,” Casaretto adds, emphasizing that they do not have any intention of providing an answer. “An artist delves into an issue with his feelings generally, and this is the way we chose to probe this subject,” he says.
They basically asked the question to motivate themselves, Ertaş explains. “On the one hand, we strive to do things for Sanatorium; on the other, we keep producing as individual artists. There are hardships in being an independent art initiative compared to being a private gallery, for instance. We deal with all these kinds of problems. Of course, we are not complaining about this. We chose this way. But we want to keep this situation in mind constantly in order to freshen our minds,” he adds.
Founded in 2009, the Sanatorium initiative has showcased a number of exhibitions thus far and has also functioned as a venue for international artists. “The initiative does not have a limit concerning the number of people in it,” says Subaşı, adding: “It is not a structure based on the people. The initiative is a way of looking at art, and whoever shares the same perspective as us can come and initiate projects with us. Sometimes there are two or three people in it, sometimes 20 or 30.”
One of the most important principles of the initiative is that it has a dynamic and flexible structure, Casaretto explains. “There is no person at the top dictating to the others what should or should not be done. The structure is constantly changing with people who contribute to the initiative,” he says. “Sometimes even a person that we have a short chat with changes our minds about something,” he adds.
Asked why they chose a name like Sanatorium for their initiative, they said they wanted to improve together, to heal themselves producing art together. They also say this has indeed happened to an extent over the past two years. Commenting on the need for healing, Subaşı says there is a specific art scene in İstanbul and that a young artist may try to be part of it, but since it is like a big machine, he will try to be a cog in it. “Sometimes you have sharp edges, you want this and that. Eventually, your sharp edges are filed by this system and it hurts. When it hurts, you get sad or mad. But when you gather with friends like you who complain about the same issues, everything gets better,” he explains.
The current show includes two pieces from Casaretto, both of which are ironic images: a drawing of an imaginary animal, something between a zebra and a rhinoceros, and a painting of the pope wearing a blue gown. Ertaş’s work “Taraf” is visible when one comes very close to it, but not from far away, while his paper works tempt the audience to tear down the pieces and see what is behind them. Another work by Ertaş, a rake with a self-portrait of the artist at the end of the stick, looks as thought it came out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Subaşı’s huge stencil drawing of a little girl leaning against the stenciling pattern of herself underlines how individuals lean on their identities in life. Two photographs by the graphics designer Ekremoğlu are also featured in the show.
“For What?” will run through Aug. 31 at Sanatorium’s Gallery in İstiklal Street. For more information, visit www.sanatorium.com.tr
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