THE PAINT STORE

AN ARCHITECT, AN ARTIST: A PERFORMATIVE INSTALLATION
In her architectural design methodology, Buşra Tunç, who makes the joint configurations of structural load-bearing elements beyond their conventional function as support mechanisms an important design question, comes together with artist Yağız Özgen for his solo exhibition. The exhibition draws its inspiration by the unique urban texture of the Persembe Pazari in Karaköy, istanbul which the artist has been observing for a long time, where mostly hardware stores and painters are located. This area is very special in the sense that it still preserves artisanal workshops in the heart of the city of istanbul.Tunç, who is also familiar with the dynamics of this unique area and is often inspired by it, is designing a paint store for Ozgen’s exhibition titled ‘Painter’.
Based on Yağız Özgen's idea to realize a performative installation in the gallery space as a carrier of the chemical components of painting, the installation titled ‘The Paint Store' transforms into an architectural performance with the arrangement of the carrier components coming together. The installation creates a painter's atmosphere by bringing together objects, some of which are found and some of which have been processed, in the gallery space according to a specific plan. Tunc's idea of a structure that does not hide what it is made of, but reveals itself, is in line with the exhibition's intention to show the materiality of painting. The design idea is based on two approaches: In the first, Tunc utilizes the aesthetics of creating techniques to preserve and transfer artworks. The second is the idea of a three-dimensional reconstruction of the wooden frame of the canvas. By using the same materials and similar configuration as these two skeletal systems, the work references both structures. In this way, Tunc constructs an open performance object-space that uses the process from the conservation of a work to its exhibition as a metaphor. The necessity for the structure to be disassembled and reassembled, its double-walled structure, plays an important role in constructing material relations.
The first encounter with this structure, which is located at the center of the gallery space and turns its back to the main entrance door, is with the skeleton itself. Once inside, it offers a fictional environment like a film set. We encounter a shop where the painter meticulously arranges his materials on the shelves. This environment stages the approach of separating the painting into its chemical components and exhibiting it.
The technical drawings for the presentation of the work are colored with a selection created by the artist. In this way, the avoidance of coincidental relationships permeates all phases of the work.

Oğuz Karayemis' exhibition text describes ‘The Paint Store' as follows:
"A shop in the optical heart of the gallery: a building on this plane, where one might expect a sculpture on a pedestal, now folds an outside of the gallery into the gallery. The reconstructed paint store at the heart of the gallery brings the two sides of art together, intertwining the space-times formed around various aspects of artistic performance.”
The Paint Store, 258 x 355 x 260 cm
Installation with various found and custom designed objects placed according to a specific plan
Construction Design: Busra Tunc, TUNK
Artist: Yagiz Ozgen
Photos: Zeynep Firat, Emirkan Corut

@tuncbu @tunk.sites @ozgenyagiz @sanatorium_
www.busratunc.com
www.yagizozgen.com