The Idealist and The Contrarian, 2016 - 2019, 16mm transferred to HD video, approx 33 minutes. The Idealist and The Contrarian, is a series of ten films made in collaboration between Matthew Burdis and Jon Baker. The films were made to the following rules. All films will be 16mm colour, silent and 3 minutes in length. When one artist has completed a film reel it must be passed on to the other artist who will film onto the same reel – creating a double exposure. There will be no discussion between artists regarding subject matter or content. “The rules, set by ourselves as well as the limitations of the medium, created a mutual way of working together that was important due to the lack of communication between us. Having both created a double exposed film collaboratively, yet separately, we would watch the finished film alone. Each film responds to the previous film in the series, creating a visual dialogue between us both: at times pre-empting each other's decisions, mirroring previous endeavours and occasionally destroying current ones.” This work was supported by the Elephant Trust and was influenced by the artist Sigmar Polke’s 16mm films shown at Tate Modern in 2014. Short bio: Matthew Burdis (b. 1993, Newcastle upon Tyne) is an artist filmmaker. He makes films that incorporate photography to investigate a moment or memory of a specific location, often focusing on a tangible or performative object as an anchor point. His work has been screened and exhibited internationally, including the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (Gateshead), The Institute of Contemporary Art (London) and as part of Serpentine Cinema: On Earth, Missing and Memory and Serpentine Cinema & General Ecology: On Earth at the Long Now at Kraftwerk Berlin. He studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design, Weißensee Kunsthochschule and The Royal College of Art. Jon Baker (b. 1977, London) is an artist using photography and other lens based media. His work explores the body as a site of inquisitive play, uncanny horror, monstrosity and pleasure. Jon’s recent work is made with a room sized camera that records its subject larger than life size, creating unique photographs with a rich and detailed image surface. His work has been shown at the Parasol UNIT, the Catlin Prize, Saatchi Sensations and as part of Serpentine Cinema, among others. Jon received a degree from Chelsea College of Arts. The standard chunk of Lorem Ipsum used since the 1500s is reproduced below for those interested. Sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 from "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" by Cicero are also reproduced in their exact original form, accompanied by English versions from the 1914 translation by H. Rackham.

Hit me baby one more time 101010 Domi Matrix show me how you want it to be A click here and an Enter there I’ll twist the algorithm in you into the formula in me. Tell me, baby, cause I need to know now where our beaches will strand. Another night another flight meandered and brought the forgotten image nearer. Closer, closer comes hand to face further, further feels obstacle from place Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know? About crying lobsters and wild Bugatti’s Goldberg variations played by Joe Rogan gothic ornaments in an IKEA manual and wanderlusts challenged with tweezers. How was I supposed to know that we the era of juxtaposition was thus as concrete as ever? Something wasn’t right, yeah. Lemme tell you bout that light that night I touched the database and gave it the juice and all that came out was wonders and doubts. Words blurted out onto the screen of reason spoken in a Victorian tone. Medusa’s hair fell out and I ain’t got the comb to straighten the knots. Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know that meaning is generated prefabricated in a reoccurring trend. And yet baby give me a sign? written by E.T _____________________________________ For this show in Barın Han, Barış Çavuşoğlu is preparing a new video installation work that will be partially created and installed in the location. The work consists of multiple LED screens that are attached to metal feet and wall sculptures. The screens will show flickering videos of AI generated images that reminds one of a fast moving screen glitch. The gothic metal sculptures that hold the screens form a surprising component to the videos that communicate a more solid and severe mood. Another element that Barış will implement are these plastic waste material that have a microbic/organic quality that will be placed on the floor and expanded from the walls (see images). Barış Çavuşoğlu b. 1994, is an animator and visual artist. He studied 3D VFX at Escape Studios London and went on to study Computer Science with Games Technology BSc at City, University of London. In 2018 he moved to Berlin and became a part of Random Collective Berlin, an organization focusing on animation and design. He is now living and working in Istanbul where he is developing a singular and loud animation style of his own fusing grotesque cartooning, and surreal black comedy in the form of XR, video art and installations. He is currently an Experimental Animation MFA candidate at California Institute of the Arts. Between exhibitions and personal projects, he is also working as a freelance animation director for Adult Swim. His animations have been screened internationally at the likes of Annecy International Animation Film Festival, REDCAT Theatre, OVNi Festival France, Lithuanian International Shorts and Dutch Design Week. In November 2021 he opened a dual presentation at BSMNT Leipzig, Germany with Kid Xanthrax called #SLIPGNOSIS.

From Fırat to RIFO Meet Fırat İtmeç, a painter and installation artist who has been working out of Izmir since graduating from 9 Eylül University’s Graphic Design department. Up until 2020 Fırat was happily producing work, painting and creating installations. Under the titles Middle East Dreamin’ (a duo project, Ortadoğu) and Geleceği Özlediğim Gibi Özleyeceğim Seni Fırat had shows at Merdiven Art Space in Istanbul and Kova Art Space in Ankara, enjoying his art career. At the arrival of 2020 the world came to a standstill, followed up by the Turkish economic crash. His sweet Aegean coast was getting darker and Fırat had to think of a new way to produce in order to sustain a living. Finding time during the slowdown of corona and through his love of food, he began his deep dive into the ancient art of fish preservation. Learning the techniques of drying, pickling, smoking and salting, he perfected his craft and, being the artist he was, began to create the mythos of Koca Rıfo. Finding similarities between the newly mastered craftsmanship and painting, Fırat found the process to be meditative and his floodgates opened. Along his journey his stars aligned with Cihangir bey, who owns a factory in Izmir with a closed down fish department. For Cihangir bey meeting a young person interested in fish preservation was a rare find, let alone in an art form which is slowly swindling and so he began a partnership based on mentorship and business. Through this, Rıfo found himself included into a small community of fish preservation enthusiasts, meeting and trading their techniques and experiences. In a short time Fırat/Rıfo was moving along and found himself knee deep in fish guts with a stench that's hard to remove, but Koca Rıfo was meant to be. Fırat found himself between his art practice and his fish addiction, but the more he worked the more the two started melding into one and that’s when Viable came in. As with Rıfo, Viable was also born in 2020 at a time when an art practice was not enough to make a sustainable living. And like Fırat, Viable was also interested in making products as a means to create an income and separate from the need to sell art. Seeing art as any production of an artist, Viable recognized the beauty and art of his journey and invited KOCA RIFO to open a shop at YAYA, the art vitrine of Viable. Viable.istanbul would like to invite you to KOCA RIFO at YAYA.

A late afternoon in Autumn. Sipping from my cup of coffee I’m awaiting a clever question to appear to me to ask the painter Mert Diner. The air is filled with fumes enclosing us in a sphere of quiet comfort. Our eyes glare out of the speckled window (never manage to clean the damn things) framing and distorting the known look of the city. Is the image of the view tainted or is the view tainted by the image? I opened my mouth hoping something useful would come out, but to my luck I found Mert had dozed off. Mert had decided to lead the conversation without me, he later revealed. He followed a dialogue between two characters, Cover and Reveal. What follows now is a conversation between Mert’s characters: C: I cover to show what is hidden because we don’t know why we cover things up from ourselves. I do not know how to show my feelings in a figurative way. R: You’re talking in your mind with yourself. C: What I’m saying is that I’m trying to turn the hidden space into a subject matter. The exciting thing about landscape painting is to find a frame to see how I can approach this vast space when I live in the woods or return to İstanbul. R: In the end you’re always painting yourself in an abstract way, you find yourself back within these paintings now or in a few years time. And sometimes... the painting ends up finding you. C: Both of us come to light. Revealing - covering - revealing - covering endlessly, endlessly. Maybe a foolish act but a very human one. Like the graffiti artist being covered by the governmental grey then sprayed over again and the cycle repeats. What do we actually reveal when we decide to hide something from our close ones? R: I suppose painting allows us that moment of freedom to discover our inner traits. Questions of “why we see what we see” and “why do we do what we do” can dance through a play of hide and seek. Why do we hide in the first place? C: Okay, now you’re asking too much. We’re showing ourselves as we speak behind these windows. Let us allow the viewer a chance to speak with their own mind. Finally, to sum up, it is as Nietsche said, “You have your way. I have my way.” ____________________ curated by: Eline Tsvetkova ____________________ Mert Diner (*1976, Iskenderun) is a Turkish abstract painter based in Istanbul. Diner graduated from Uludağ University mechanical engineering in 1999. After studying painting with the artist İrfan Önürmen between 2005-2007, Diner studied painting at NYSS (New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture) on a scholarship between 2007-2009 in New York. Diner’s paintings revolve around his curiosity for contrasting motifs of the visible and invisible. His search returns in various manners throughout his series of paintings, revealing what is concealed and concealing what tries to reveal.

Viable is delighted to present Blue Kismet, it’s first artist-residency exhibition with the London-based Dutch/Bulgarian artist, Eline Tsvetkova. The exhibition will run from February 18th to March 12th and take place in two locations in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. High gloss wooden floor boards accompanied with colourful outdated tiles, evidently leftovers and brass taps entangled and connected to impracticality. This assemblage of found material consists of various objects and photography, mingling the artist’s own Bulgarian family archive with photographs retrieved in Istanbul. What is presented is a collection of group photographs that recall sun-faded advertisements, though one is not quite sure whether these photographs derive from the same source or same communal consciousness. Behind the glass window the visitor is welcomed by multiple grins celebrating togetherness in a playful intimate manner, side to side, dusk to dawn, ashes to ashes, captured (by) the shadow photographer. The convergence of these bodies of works creates a connective tissue of imagery, ideas, and relationships between collected and deployed materials in a manner that determines what we attempt to find, and subsequently also what we seek. The result of these findings is a combined body of site-specific work that can be viewed across two different spaces. The collection of interior objects in the passage and vitrine shop is in a state of ordered flux and will not disclose whether its setting wants to be a stage for some purpose or a décor that enacts a forgotten deserted display. A collage of atmospheres contained within these particularly picked objects resulting into what has been called a ‘meshmorable’ portmanteau; a memory-muster that does not disclose a hierarchy or a linear truth. Eline Tsvetkova, who is currently doing her masters at the Royal College of Art in London in the Contemporary Art Practice department, returned temporarily to Zurich and commenced her practice at the Trèlex artist residency in October-November 2020. During this isolated and quiet period, she got in touch with Metin Ilktekin and Kerim Zapsu to collaborate with them in the art project platform “Viable” in Istanbul. Without further ado she moved to Istanbul organising a residency and exhibition for her.

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A Room to One’s Self – And at that moment he realised he did not know anything about her at all. Gerald could not fathom how he was led astray by the many afternoon coffees, laughter and kisses over cocktails, long walks through the park and lay-downs during his free weekdays, when he had to go away for “business”. Gerald did not go every month to Lecce in Puglia to discuss with the municipality whether their famous papier-mâché relics qualified as UNESCO heritage, which was the story he sold his wife and kids at home. Instead, Gerald went to Ayvalık to see his lover whom he met at a stop-over in Istanbul about a year ago. He gave her the nickname Constanza, for being “constantly” not in Italy. It made her blush until she got used to him being a constant tease. Constanza is a shy and homely woman. Not what one expects a mistress to be like, superficially speak-ing. She is fair haired and fair tempered, has a love for English historical novels and watches at least three episodes of Gilmore Girls after a stressful day at work. He is easily smitten by her little daily tales, her gentle sensibilities and elaborate cooking. As snacks she’d serve salted anchovies and salmon jerky from Izmir which made him go wild. Only one thing was conditioned by Constanza: Gerald could only stay at her place until 20:00. This did distress him to be fair. It sometimes made him suspicious of her having another lover but when this idea appeared he’d wave it aside as absolute non-sense. As far as Gerald was concerned the evening was just like many others. It was cosy, much laughter, great wine and she made a delicious roasted patlıcan with sauce. After dinner, Gerald became a little tired and fancied a little lounging on the couch. Also, tonnight he decided to test her boundries. As the evening proceded he noticed Constanza becoming increasingly more uncomfortable and observed her peaking at her watch. In her attempt to finding excuses for him to leave he would interrupt her with cryptic mumblings and pretend to fall asleep. “She is so cute when she gets nervous”, he thought. And not much longer Gerald afterall fell asleep. After eight, Constanza disappeared. Gerald eventually opened his eye-lids and noticed that she was not in the room. After realising she was not in the bathroom he got up. He called her name as he walked through the hallway. He noticed a door being slightly ajar with light shining through it. As he pushed the door open his eyes were startled by the intense lights and colours that fell upon his dazed vision. There he found Constanza lying on her side resting on a bright pink, fur carpet with her back facing towards him. She wore an abstract, leopard printed dress and had kicked off some bright orange heels. “Constanza...?”, called Gerald with some hesitation. “Is that you, I mean, is this your room?” “One day you had to see this. I have been keeping this away from you all this time”, Constanza replied as she took a drag from her self-rolled cigarette. “You see, after eight I become an art collector and retreat to my “Collection Room”. It’s like a spell that draws me into this role, it gives me a feeling of power and autonomy over my gathered universe. This space is my temple of confidence.” “When did this happen to you”, asked Gerald now wide awake. “I have been interested in art for many years but after I bought my first art piece it was the beginning of my holistic obsession. Eventually, I created a room for myself where I can be alone with my collection. And since then, after eight o clock, I get drawn to this ritual.” Constanza swirled her legs in the air and landed her feet in the carpet, digging her toes into the fur moving them in circular movements. “I had no, idea, you were that into....art?”, stuttered Gerald while his eyes dwelled through the various objects and images in the minty colour room. His eyes now rested on her bare foot turning on a kinetic sculpture. She turned her head and exhaled her last cigarette puff. “Darling, spending time with you has been wonderful but this room has been a true con- stant companion. A room for one’s self, I can truly recommend.”

medievl Times 〘2〙 For this exhibition the artist has prepared a text which can be read on their website at the following link - https://parker.sex/yaya/medievl%20Times.pdf Below is a snippet from this text: At the time of writing, I’m in my studio working out, dictating to Grant, imagining a time when I’m in Istanbul, imagining the show this text was written for. Bad news in regards to the Issey Miyake jacket: I sold it to fund the production of new works. In memoriam of the jacket, I’ve decided to make a reproduction of it, as faithful to the original as possible, and exhibit it as a work of art for my show in Istanbul. Remember that credit with my tailor I mentioned before? Well my tailor also happens to be Turkish. Funny how that works 〘it feels very 2+7 = 9〙. The jacket will be produced by him in LA. I’m going to try and get the jacket as close to the original as possible, but, you know how people like drinking old wine cause it tastes better or something? Faking a vintage jacket might be harder than it sounds. I may also add some small details to identify the jacket as a Parker Ito artwork. When you start exhibiting art professionally, there is a lot of novelty in the logistics of the whole process that are not explained in art school. You have to improvise as you go. Having your flights covered when exhibiting internationally for the first time is extremely exciting. Not as exciting, but also an important detail, is the shipment of artworks. Shipping artworks is an invisible industry to the general art-loving public. Having fancy international shipping, or any kind of shipping, is a luxury of being an established artist. In the years leading up to becoming a professional artist, projects often don’t have those kinds of budgets. So you have to cut corners in shipping. One route is a suitcase show: a show where all of the artwork can fit in your suitcase. This show I’m doing in Istanbul is a return to a suitcase show. It’s a suitcase show in that the artwork is put in the suitcase and the artwork is just a jacket, which you’d put in a suitcase anyways. My plan is to arrive in Istanbul for my three-week stay and spend time traveling around the city, documenting my experience there, taking images of myself wearing the jacket, which will be used for a zine available at the show 〘Update: it’s too hot to wear the jacket. Instead the zine will be photos relating to this text. Basically the illustrated version without text.〙 There will be an audiobook version of the present text in the exhibition along with a printed version with a custom-designed letterhead.

I am 0 an egg about to crack The Fool about to make a joke I am the threshold the rabbit hole you will fall into don’t be a fool trying to track me down because I’m playing with you The Threshold is for those who are always on the road I'm the lord of the in-between Goodbye I mean hello always one step ahead Finding me is the transcendent function in alchemy I’m the mediator between dream world and waking life Binding the realms of the sacred and the profane I know neither good nor evil just responsible for both I'm close to 1 but I am 0 far from 0 but I am not 1 just that I'm about to crack poem: Selver Yıldırım exhibition text: Zeynep Yılmaz photography: Zeynep Fırat Selver Yıldırım compares the imminent end to a "cracking egg" in her third solo exhibition titled "0,9999..." which opened in YAYA / Viable Istanbul in December 2022, and openly states that the exhibition is related to death. The exhibition, consisting of paintings, sculptures, and a holistic installation spread over 6m2, indicates that the end, named as death at an individual level and apocalypse (doomsday) at a societal level, is actually an impending new beginning. The artist embraces death with a gesture of life, likening the end of life to a threshold. The migration of the soul in Gnosticism is equivalent to passing a bridge in Shamanism. The trio of paintings named Past, Egg, and Future resemble three separate cards drawn from a magical deck. The narrative of the first painting, Past, takes place in the material world. The eye is curious about the "other." Unreadable shapes stacked on top of each other construct the acts of writing and speech, while the hammer, sickle, and stacked circular stones create the acts of labor, work, and construction. The second painting, Egg, consists of symbols related to the "other." The external factors that have shaped the artist's inner world the most so far are depicted. As mentioned in the exhibition text, she states that the egg, which is about to crack, will continue to be shaped by another or others until it cracks. She adds the note "this painting is not over because I am still alive" for the egg. The third painting in the series, Future, is positioned as a complementary opposite of Past. The artist evaluates these two paintings in the binary of father-mother or physics-metaphysics. A clown who directs his sad and direct gaze towards the viewer despite being a cheerful cartoon character blurs the boundaries of different possible emotions existing at the same time. The polyester casting sculpture named The Fool is a combination of the famous internet meme "troll face" and the first and last, zeroth card of the tarot, "the fool." By emphasizing the mockery of the vagrant and the need to take even the holiest and most serious things lightly, this posture presents this attitude as a "method of coping with the weight of reality." It elevates humor and art at the same time, perhaps with a similar mockery. The exhibition text, which is a poem, is within a comprehensive narrative together with the installation. It is written without the desire for any description or explanation. The feeling that comes before us comes to life through the whispers of the zeroth card "the fool." The sand covering the ground represents the path and being on the path; the dog represents the companion on the road; and the hole from which a light source emerges represents the rabbit hole, which is usually interpreted as "passing to the other dimension."

Forget about the ordinary! We are proud to introduce you to Fluidity Unwrapped! In the heart of the city at Ittihad Sigortalar Passage, you will discover a marvel where art and design are seamlessly blended uniquely in the vitrine of Viable: _Untitled_(hooked)_ This is not a sculpture, not an artwork; it's an experience! This extraordinary product offers you a moment, locking your gaze onto the movement of glimmer. An advertising panel continuously rotating wrapping papers, _Untitled_(hooked)_, questions the essence of a showcase object and ideals of a sculptural form. Its side products lucky_charm_01 and lucky_charm_02 accompany it. The curves, light and motion will take your breath away. Now explore! This is an opportunity not to be missed because _Untitled_(hooked)_ not only flows in the vitrine but also spins in the depths of your imagination. This unique product will offer different shapes in every glance and will take you beyond the ordinary. With the continuous effect of the movement, you will never get bored. You are asking why? Here is the answer ; Working and thinking about the elements of showcase design over sculptural aspects and abstracting through new forms, Antonia Breme seeps this time to the vitrine of Yaya at Viable. Fluidity Unwrapped refers to the passage being a shopping spot and the physicality of its vitrines while reinterpreting a mundane action, feeling and a state in harmony through a slow and continuous movement. Breme depicts the desire of consumption with an eye-catching window installation and overs the viewer a soothing, sensual and naive viewing, in contrast to the fast, aggressive nature of consumption culture. The rigid and distant image of the mechanical-industrial world moves away from its defined and unique form and enters into a fluid structure, revealing delicacy and silence. While the movement of the wrapping papers turns into a spiral and accumulates, notions of material, texture, mass, and shadow, which are the main subjects of the artist, attract attention. The artist produces lucky_charm_01 and lucky_charm_02 as an extension of _Untitled_(hooked)_, exhibiting similarities of the materials and their unexpected transformation from solid to soft, straight to curly, rough to delicate in a most harmonious manner. The urge to disrupt the ordinary in a silent way and the attempt to deconstruct and lay bare what is in flux activates the sense of completion in the viewer. Experience the transformative power of art with _Untitled_(hooked)_. Every turn is a discovery, every moment is a masterpiece. Visit us for more information or purchase now! written by T. Melis Golar supported by Goethe Institute Istanbul