Above: Installation view (ongoing) from Uniform Cut, 2015

Profile

Hakan Topal is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. He is Assistant Professor of New Media and Art + Design at Purchase College, SUNY and a graduate faculty member in the School of Visual Arts MFA Program. He received a Ph.D. in sociology from The New School. He was the co-founder of xurban_collective (2000-12) and exhibited his work at the Istanbul Biennial; Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21), Vienna; Kunst-Werke, Berlin; ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe; MoMA PS1, New York; Gwangju Bienniale, and the Venice Bienniale. For more information: www.hakantopal.info

Unrelated Matters: Fantazistan (2015) & Uniform Cut (2015)

Ongoing Open Studio & Installation: June 23 (Tue) - July 7 (Tue) 2015
*Held as an exhibition from July 7 (Tue) to July 9 (Thu) 2015
Reception: July 9 (Thu) 6-8 PM

Venue: AIR3331 Soto-Kanda Studio (3331 Arts Chiyoda room 205)

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"Unrelated Matters", an ongoing installation by New York-based artist Hakan Topal--an artist-in-residence with AIR3331 Open Call--is composed of two distinct but interlocking projects that deal with everyday realities, speculation, perversity, subversion and representation in digital times.

The first part of the installation, "Fantazistan" is a playful attempt to engage with Islamist ideology and its phantasmagoric gender narratives and newly invented neoconservative norms. In this case, veiling (hijab), albeit a very contested issue, is extremely sexualized under this conservative order.

"Uniform Cut" is a project that is part of the ongoing research about coastal communities and global waters. The project revolves around the idea of speculating possible futures with respect to the aftermath of manmade or natural catastrophes. "Uniform Cut" invites us to rethink nature where it intersects with the built environment.

The installation brings together fictitious and documentary images, web pages, 3D renderings, video and text to create an amalgamated context.

For more information please contact: hakantopal@gmail.com