HÜSEYIN IŞIK: LIVE BROADCAST FROM MY COFFIN

Project 6
7 December 2018-22 February 2019
Stadtraum Wien

»There, where prehistoric dogs once barked« C. Süreya

Soon I will embark on a long journey and not return. We have destroyed everything; I cannot even recognise the clouds. With the change in my pocket, I shall pay the price for being snatched from nature.

Even this century has been marked by war, genocide and other human tragedies. All of humanity has been shaped by a manipulated historiography, resulting in a distorted collective consciousness. The tyrants are unfortunately victorious once again. At least up until now, and the foreseeable future promises little hope for a better world.

It was the day on which books and people were burned and humanity was left without a father. When the registered passengers of a ship sank to their deaths, the poor raven never once forgot all these things. The dogs barked that day and the zeitgeist was soaked by a rain of tears.

Time is running out, the water has long since risen and the earth upon which you once set your foot with such confidence is now nothing but a deep swamp.

While I let the rats scratch at my itching foot from within my coffin, I am welcomed into the ground where identity, belonging and ownership have no meaning.

Hüseyin Işık

Live broadcast from my coffin

The room installation consists of large-scale drawings and about 10,000 partially coloured duplicates. The drawings are mounted on the wall (wallpapered) and the duplicates lie on the floor like so many weightless leaves in autumn.

Shown is the chaotic state of the world today from the perspective of a rat who lives in a coffin, and who transmits the view captured by its revolving eyes to us, live.

Special guest:

The photographer, Merih Akoğul observes the installation “with different eyes”, showing us his perspective. His photographs are projected on to the wall.

© Hüseyin Isik, Images: Merih Akoğul