Aslı Andaç was born in 1979 in İzmir. She began her archaeology education in her home town after pursuing a tourism management programme. She went on to her studies at CAU in Germany and completed her degrees in Classical Archaeology and Italian Philology. Besides her museum practices through her work for the collection of antiquities, as well as the excavation project of Ege University in Turkey, she participated in the Nordic contemporary art projects in northern Germany. These projects provided her with creative thinking, with knowledge of visuality and exhibitions. She acquired additional qualification for documenting in the institutions of Artothekenverband SH Deutschland, digiCULT Museums, Art Gallery/Provinzial Versicherung. In 2014 she moved to The Netherlands for work purposes for private life and further education. She was rather engaged in commercial work, initially as junior business developer at an innovative start-up/renewables. She has a good command on English, German, Italian, Dutch languages. Likewise, she worked for the events of cultural institutions of The German embassy in The Hague. She collaborated with the team of Spanda foundation that deals with ethno-musical performances from Italy and with the subjects of cultural diversity. She participated in the Curating Contemporary Art, the program by Open Dialogue Istanbul/Akbank Sanat and she aims to perform on curatorial field professionally.
Is it possible to explore a language and human consciousness that sustains the innate spiritual connection to nature, symbiotic relationship to other life forms that transforms this into ecological consensus? From perspectives that experience a break away from current paradigms, we present gifted compositions in this curatorial concept.
Ağıç in our old language means Substance, as well as Tree. Then, the rustle of its leaves was inclined to create the energy and the cycle of life. It was an organism that provides the rhythm of the cosmic order and a metaphor that opens up perspective to the metamorphoses. La Guin’s eco-fiction novel, The Word for World is Forest is an intellectual source here. Within the fantastic narratives merging into realism, the forest is allied with the green universe that protects the life as contrary to the destructive militarist, sexist formations. Tree is a totem, a representative of the creative energy.
The modest wooden structures of the earlier times turned into urban structures made from marble. There were indeed mystical architectural elements that likely present such human torso forms. The anthropomorphic support pillars called, Caryatid reflected the anatomy as a liaison of femininity with cosmos. Originally, they referred to the dancers in pastoral costumes dealing with early fertility rituals and symbolizing continuity. By time, they relatively become the representatives of the emperor's constant power, emphasizing his carried heaven on the earth.
This exhibition introduces the artworks in an attitude that investigates urban identity transformations, the current structures and the existing social values based on historical mysticism. The Cosmic Rustle experiences an awakening of the incentive with the evoked connotations of the authentic imageries and the aura felt by various substances.
With reference to Bataille’s articles, that is to say that the urbanization evolves from early modern period to the present time offering such living spaces symbolized by the existing authoritarian formations. Accordingly, this interprets a consciousness of ‘being a human being’ which is specific in nature and this imposes on us a hierarchy based on particular roles. In this context, then the beginning of the 20th century, the discourse of social exclusion of femininity refers to marginalization of women alongside with nature.
Woolf’s Orlando is a literary source that explores the metamorphoses, the oscillation as well as the overlap between genders which is based on narratives from historical, cultural and political inspirations. As to eliminate the gender roles and the costumes of urban life, nature is pictured as the ambiance of the source of transience and evanescence, thus the enthusiasm of life.
The Tree metaphor leads us to investigate our existence and existing identity values. In nature, we perceive both, the fear of being neutralized, thus the desire to connect to the roots and to escape from the roots. In the tide of urban life-nature, though the identity swings, the roots we perceive are the source of revelations in the mystical life cycle that guide us.