Göksu Kunak

Traces of scattered gunshots and a car wreck as cinematic symbols of alienation: Recalling David Cronenberg’s film of J.G. Ballard’s classic Crash, the opening performance to the exhibition Geçmiş Masumiyet/Bygone Innocence by Göksu Kunak revolves around a renowned scandal, a car accident in the Turkish city of Susurluk in 1996. Among the victims: the former chief of the Istanbul police and a member of the Grey Wolves organisation who was sought by Interpol. This constellation uncovered the existence of a controversial criminal network. 

The multimedia work Geçmiş Masumiyet/ Bygone Innocence explores the politics of concealment while questioning the notion of simulacra produced by overly trained, almost hyperreal muscles and machines seen as fetish objects. The accompanying performance shifts the focus to the society of the spectacle and to gestures that provoke moments of apprehension. 

In Bygone Innocence, Göksu Kunak presents a multimedia artistic intervention based on the car accident in Susurluk in 1996. Weapons were found in the wreckage. Among the victims: the former chief of the Istanbul police and a member of the Grey Wolves organisation who was sought by Interpol. This constellation uncovered the existence of a controversial criminal network in Turkey. Kunak’s work explores the politics of concealment and interprets the notion of the crash as a fetish – all systems down between drama and soap opera.

Bygone Innocence was designed for PILEVNELI, Istanbul.
In Cooperation with Kunsthalle Krems.