SUSPENDED

A collaboration between İz Öztat and Ann Antidote, Suspended portrays a scene of suspension. The scene, negotiated through a consensual contract between The Submissive, The Dominant and The Voyeur, interrogates the power dynamics experienced in daily life. The Submissive explores being a body without agency —a reference to the suspension of freedom of expression in the public sphere of Turkey. The body of The Submissive is wrapped, tied and suspended by The Dominant in a white parchment which resembles both a swaddle and a shroud. The Dominant defines the common denominator of their work as “inclusive, solidary, queer, consensual, dissident or straightforward awkward lifeforms and moments.” In the scene, they take on The Dominant role to carry it out in accordance with the attitude stated above. The scene is recorded by The Voyeur, who makes the production of the video possible by bartering their labor.

In her collective and individual artistic practice spanning diverse media defined by her research, İz Öztat explores the persistence of violent histories through forms, materials, space and language. She responds to absences in official historiography through spectral, inter-generational and speculative fictions. Öztat fabricates the (auto)biography of Zişan (1894-1970), who appears to her as a historical figure, a ghost and an alter ego. She takes on Zişan’s archives and interprets them through her practice to construct a complex temporality of action that enables the suppressed past to intervene in the increasingly authoritarian present. The values and methodologies driving Öztat’s practice have been articulated in relation to struggles against the taming of running waters for profit and progress, queer desire and consensual negotiation of power. Selected exhibitions include Self-determination: A Global Perspective at IMMA, Dublin (2023); The Colony at the Schwules Museum, Berlin (2018);  Tamawuj, Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017); Land without Land at Heidelberger Kunstverein (2016) and Salt Water: A Theory on Thought Forms, the 14th Istanbul Biennial (2015). Her academic articles, essays and fictional texts have been published in various media. 

An Antidote (formerly Ann Antidote, no pronouns), brings to existence artworks centered around inclusive, solidary, queer, consensual, dissident or downright awkward lifeforms and moments. These works (music, film, performance, the practice or teaching of rope bondage) often come to their form in temporary autonomous zones and travel world wide in heterogeneous contexts as co-operative house projects, reclaimed urban structures, streaming platforms, parties, museums and galleries; all considered equally relevant. An challenges power structures, specially those invisible, not consciously addressed nor explicitly consented to. An examines gender, privilege, consent, sustainability and accessibility and thus prefers clear and direct language whenever possible, refusing non-consensual interpretations. Selected contexts include Fuck Culture at Museum’s Quartier (Vienna), Proudly Perverted at Schwules Museum (Berlin), Yes We Care at FRAC Lorraine (Metz), Dotyk Queer Art Festival (Minsk), QuEAR Transtonale Festival (Berlin), ARTErias Urbanas at Bienal de Arquitectura (Santa Cruz, Bolivia), Villa Kuriosum (Berlin), Arthouse Vienna, FFF Tokyo, several Ladyfests and Queer festivals.

Suspended (2019), digital video, 6 minutes. Courtesy of the artists.

Part of a screening program of works by LGBTI+ artists and of queer creations.

Next film: Does Your House Have Lions (2021), Vishal Jugdeo.

KIRIK’s 2023/24 programs are supported by the SAHA Sustainability Fund.