eine bewusste Anstrengung nicht verzaubert zu werden

Im Jahr 2013 erreichten die Wellen des rebellischen Arabischen Frühlings die Türkei. Der Gezi-Park in Istanbul wurde zum Schauplatz eines revolutionären Konflikts zwischen einer jungen türkischen Generation und dem repressiven türkischen Staat. In der Arbeit 'eine bewusste Anstrengung nicht verzaubert zu werden' korrelieren Filmfragmente und fotografische Arbeiten mit Textnotizen aus der Zeit, als ich den Gezi-Protest 2013 gefilmt und dokumentiert habe. Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Erinnerung und der politischen Transformation des Ortes. Sie thematisiert die Veränderungen des Ortes aus verschiedenen Perspektiven und Bereichen. Zum einen durch die fotografischen Bilder von 2009, als der Park noch anders wahrgenommen wurde als vier Jahre später. Zum anderen durch eine essayistische Filmsequenz vom Gezipark-Protest 2013 und eine zwei Jahre nach dem Protest entstandene Stummfilmnotiz. Nach 10 Jahren (2009-2019) verbindet die Arbeit verschiedene Momente aus dem Park in Form einer forschenden künstlerischen Haltung.


a conscious effort not to be entranced

In 2013, the waves of the rebellious Arab Spring reached Turkey. Gezi Park in Istanbul became the scene of a revolutionary conflict between a young Turkish generation and the repressive Turkish state. In the work 'a conscious effort not to be enchanted', film fragments and photographic works correlate with text notes from the time when I filmed and documented the Gezi protest in 2013. The work deals with memory and the political transformation of the site. It thematizes the changes of the place from different perspectives and areas. On the one hand, through the photographic images from 2009, when the park was still perceived differently than four years later. Secondly, through an essayistic film sequence from the Gezipark protest in 2013 and a silent film note made two years after the protest. After 10 years (2009-2019), the work combines various moments from the park in the form of an exploratory artistic approach.


C-Print / Foil - 25x20 / 2009 - 2019

C- Print / 130x110 / 2019

C-Print / Foil - 30x25 / 2009 - 2019

C- Print / 80x100 / 2019

Filmsequence 
'a conscious effort not to be entranced' - 11 Minutes / 2014

Filmloop 'for those who clear fire' - 1 min / 2015


The first photographs that artist and filmmaker Johannes Gierlinger took of Gezi Park near the historic Taksim Square were taken in 2009, when he experienced the place with an open mind as a green, tree-lined area that promised some shade and relaxation in the midst of the roaring city – a perception shared by many locals at the time. “Gezi” means a “walk” in Turkish, and nothing about the park of this name hinted at the conflict that would flare up here four years later. Gierlinger, who deals with history, memory and resistance in his essayistic works, visited the site again in 2013, in the midst of the smouldering protests that were attracting a great deal of international attention at the time. They were directed against the policies of Erdoğan’s Islamic-conservative government and his plans to build over the park – one of the last remaining green spaces in the metropolis of millions. Supported by a community of solidarity from various population groups, the opposition was directed at a series of major construction projects, including a third airport for the city, three nuclear power plants and a number of dams. However, following its violent eviction, Gezi Park quickly became the symbol of a protest movement that would soon spread to large parts of Turkey and, via diaspora communities, beyond the country’s borders.
Gierlinger’s film footage from this time shows the green space and the surrounding streets in a very different light. The park became a symbol of civil resistance overnight, directed not only against the removal of a segment of nature in the centre of the city, but above all against the underlying system of repression that threatened much more than just this place of calm. At that time, Gierlinger also wrote diary entries, which always accompany his photographic and filmic practice. In Gezi (2019), the negative form of such a personal note is superimposed onto a shadowy photograph. Also looking back from 2019, his large-format photographic work A Conscious Effort Not to Become Enchanted accounts for the experience in two respects: on the one hand, the magic of the threatened place of longing is reinforced by Gierlinger’s highly atmospheric, almost mystical-looking photograph; on the other hand, this magic is also denied, as the memory of the numerous victims of police violence is not permitted to disappear behind it.

Philippe Batka, Curator - 'Unknown Familiars' at Leopold Museum

In his artistic work, Johannes Gierlinger deals with history, politics and resistance and the associated (collective) memory. His extensive series and installations can be described as essayistic, as he attempts to approach the places he investigates with an open mind and to incorporate the surroundings shaped by the respective conflicts - such as parks, squares and nature. The multi-part installation 'A conscious effort not to be entranced' refers to the outbreak of the Arab Spring and its impact on Turkey in 2013. The setting in Istanbul was the popular Gezi Park, where violent clashes broke out between a largely young generation and the police. Photographic works with text recordings and film fragments taken by the artist on location form an interplay of fragments of memory in the context of the transformation of a place due to political circumstances, which allows for different perspectives. A total of ten years lie between the photographs, which, when juxtaposed, visualize and simultaneously archive the artist's reflections

Tina Teufel, Curator Museum der Moderne Salzburg

Still from the Filmsequence '
a conscious effort not to be entranced' / 11 min / 2014

Kunst im Traklhaus - Exhibition of the Collection Land Salzburg, 2022/23, Austria

Kunst im Traklhaus - Exhibition of the Collection Land Salzburg, 2022/23, Austria