Deniz Gül

Profile

Deniz Gül (b.1982, Izmir) lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey where she received her BA in Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design from Sabanci University.
Gül's artistic practice involves public programs or site-specific productions and she uses photography, film and text to create works of art. In addition to her artistic practice, Gül writes for various magazines and blogs about contemporary culture, arts, design and urban life. In 2009, she exhibited in Lille 3000 as a part of "Istanbul, Traverseé". Lately her fictive-documentary "Zeytinburnu Monologues" was published as a part of "Urban Makers- Parallel Narratives of Grassroots Practices and Tensions" by Bbooks, Germany. In 2008, participated in Tokyo Wonder Site residency program and exhibited in "Post-it Cities", Centre De Cultura Contemporania (Barcelona) which will be touring over Europe throughout 2009.

About works / performance

My activities examine the construction of identity and space through social roles, urban myths and representation. Dealing with a matter's condition of existence, I deconstruct my subjects to capture and develop a new reality. In my recent video series Mama Stop! (2008, Tokyo) I depict on parental control over a child in different settings and reproduces codes of behavior via spatial arguments over women's identity and her role in the society. My latest photography series Backyard and Façade (2008, İstanbul) exposes the use of an early 19th century -the so called baroque and western- architectural site to a narrative which fancies fictive characters to go around cultural, social and practical rituals. The piece reproduces the cult of western influence on the orient and imagines the cultural artifacts in a staged wedding.

The movie shows mothers and children jumping rope in a park. At first they all have fun, but both mothers and kids are gradually captured by the increasing speed. The notion of "play" changes over the course of the movie, as mothers and children become aware that they are trapped within the framework of their game. At the same time, the artist highlights the hidden social desires and politics of parents toward children and education.