''The Poet Takes Himself Apart'' - Gala Bell

"The Poet Takes Himself Apart" reflects the artist's experience living on the island of Büyükada, where she spent much of her time traveling by boat to the print studio. The image of this artwork is a composite of three elements; the tartan textile border, the flames, and the central image shooting at the sun. The work was conceived during an extreme heatwave, when the element of fire felt inextinguishable. On the island, the artist was surprised to encounter an old book, with the front cover the image of people surrounded by a fire, the title is ‘Trajedi’. Vladimir Mayakovsky is a Russian cult revolutionary poet, and it is no coincidence that the remnants of socialist literature found its way to the island. Historically, Buyuk Ada has been a place of exile for many royal and political figures, including the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, sent into exile by Stalin, he lived on the island for 4 years.

 

In this play, the poet himself is the protagonist, wandering through an imaginary city, encountering characters who are suffering from a epidemic called the "Revolt of Things," where objects and concepts such as love and grief become malevolent and terrorize the citizens. The poet and citizens create a bonfire intended to burn these concepts in favour of a new, Utopian world order in which they no longer exist. As the city’s inhabitants are tormented by the overabundance of Things, the meaning of ordinary things changes, even tears become trinkets and fashion accessories, the Sun loses all power and becomes a mere accessory fastened to girls’ dresses. 

 

These metonymic concepts, where objects change meaning, reminded the artist of something she heard about people in Adana, who were said to shoot at the sun. In the artwork, the Mayakovsky’s poet becomes the protagonist taking the place of the man in Adana who shoots at the sun.

 

The tartan textile in the artwork is derived from a photograph of Atatürk's tie, displayed in a portrait at Bostancı Iskele, and coincidentally, it was also worn by Mayakovsky in a well-known photo. Both men, through imagination and action, sought to establish a new order. Originating from Chinese Tartary (now Mongolia), the Urumqi tribe in the 2nd century first created the tartan pattern by weaving woollen yarns. This pattern travelled through a process of cultural assimilation with Turkic tribes and later the Ottomans. Although tartan is now commonly seen in tablecloths, shirts, and political attire, it originally symbolized resistance to authority and the pursuit of a new social order. Its use by figures like Mayakovsky and Atatürk highlights its connection to revolutionary ideas and its role as a symbol of challenging the status quo and envisioning a different future.