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Bingul Basarir, a Turkish name in international contemporary
clay art, displayed fragments of her artistic life in a
retrospective exhibition. The exhibition, held in Istanbul
during the month of April 2000, Commemorated her 40 years in
art.
Bingul Basarir has been through eras in which she
concentrated on various themes and phenomena concerning mankind
in all aspects. Before her thematic works, her creations were
mainly decorative and functional. She was then concentrating on
textures and reliefs. The reflections of the era can be traced
until today in her mural walls. In the slide shows that she made
all over the world, her huge mural walls attracted as much
interest as her reflective works. These works belong to the era
when she concentrated on themes like evolution, transformation,
metamorphosis, nature and environment. She incorporated
different media in her works by using waste products such as
burnt lignite and used glass.
In her most recent era, she has been working on a new
technique which provided her with a light ceramic material: clay
mixed sawdust. She has been using this material in her works
themed on the Hittite civilization. Besides displaying examples
and stories of the various periods that she had been through
during the 40 years of her artistic life, she showed her current
work.
One can see and appreciate the synthesis of these various
Hittite styles in this exhibition of the works of Binguls
Basarir: wall Plates and sculptural forms. The wall plates are
both round and triangular forms. The wall plates are both round
and triangular forms and, in her statuary, the Hittite
ceremonial symbol form is dominant. This half circle form is
used either in its original form of abstracted by being
elongated or heightened. The statues are dual-faced and seated
on pedestals. On each face one can see Hittite relief figures
such as men and women, birds, lions and trees. She
 has also
included figures of religious signs, rulers, sorcerers and deremonies. Hittite hieroglyphs are used to decorate areas
between the reliefs. Two relief faces are placed together,
separated by a section of glass. It is possible to see ancient
cuneiform scripts on the pedestals of the statues.
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Furnace
in the Studio |
office |
By the Studio |
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The Hittites
were a rich and powerful people who reigned in Anatolia from
about 1750 BC to about 750 BC. When migrating to Anatolia,
they brought their own cuneiform system of writing with
them. As time passed, this form of writing with them. As
time passed, this form of writing was influenced by the
illustrative writing style of the indigenous local
population and developed into what is now known as the
Hittite hieroglyph which is composed of representations of
human and developed into what is now known as the Hittite
hieroglyph which is composed of representations of human and
animal figures, house utensils and features of the natural
environment. Many examples of Hittite written tablets, wall
reliefs, stone and bronze statues, and reliefed ceramic
pots still survive today and they constitute a great
treasure for modern artists who wish to emulate these
styles.
Bingul Basarir has used cuneiform to create a sense of
authenticity. The artist's skill in use of colour is well
known and she uses natural and simplistic colours. This
skilful use of color is characteristic of many of the pieces
included in the exhibition. The use of simple black and
white adds meanings to many pieces of her work but in this
exhibition she integrated rich blues, greens and yellows.
The reason for this change, in her own words, is: "The
Hittite civilization has always interested me. I have read
every publication has always interested me . and I taken
every opportunity to visit museums to observe the remains of
their culture. It has reached a point where I feel I
am one with them. For this reason I wanted my 40th
anniversary exhibition to be about the Hittite civilization.
I feel I am one with them. For this reason I wanted my 40th
anniversary exhibition to be about the hittite civilization.
I focused on animation the figures on reliefs and projecting
their way of living, which we can only imagine today,
depending on their surviving artifacts. As for the colors, I
think, the earth colors would have the effect of
archeological artifacts. In the year 1000 BC, the sky was
still this blue and the trees were this green. The fields
were yellow at the harvest time and seasons were the same as
today. For these simple reasons, I have used all of these
vibrant colours in my work."
In this exhibition we experience both the past and the
present at the same time. |
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