Focusing on a transition from static architectural structures to dynamic systems in his artwork, Semih Zeki features the self-renewing cycle of demolition, piles of debris and reconstruction in his new exhibition, “Autopoiesis”, which shall be on view at the Bozlu Art Project Mongeri Building from November 5th to December 14th.
The term “Autopoiesis”, initially used to describe the constant self-renewal of living systems in order to maintain their existence, in time entered fields such as psychology, social sciences and architecture as the ‘self-reproduction of something from its own components’. This concept fits in smoothly with the overlapping layers we encounter in Semih Zeki’s painting. The artist first breaks the whole into pieces, then brings these pieces together, transforming and recreating the whole. He also includes the viewer in this process he describes as “painting’s journey to painting”, by leaving it up to our minds to complete the architectural constructions we are confronted with in the meanwhile.
Semih Zeki believes that thought should not take precedence over painting, and therefore wishes his painting to take its own course in its process of production and be open to all kinds of surprises. He is after the contemporary, rather than the historical. As explained in his following words, he calls for a cycle of self-improvement and transformation in producing artwork, characterized by constantly reproducing ‘the new’ rather than repetition: “In my opinion, the artist must always be in a state of boundless, endless change; one of dynamism in terms of his or her own awareness. This will, of course, bring along a sense of incompleteness and dissatisfaction, or restlessness in the artist.”