The Art of Un-belonging
Deniz Sözen, Surya Namaz, 2018, photo © David Freeman
Lecture by Deniz Sözen, organized by the Studio for Art and Education, Joonas Lahtinen and Elke Krasny
Deniz Sözen’s practice is concerned with decolonising the Eurocentric imaginary that has been shaped by dualisms, such as self and Other, mind and body, culture and nature, etc. which constitute the colonial legacy of modernity. Her practice moves across various media and art forms, including video, performance, ceramics, (sound) installation and interventions in the public space.
Departing from her mixed Turkish-and-Austrian heritage and hybrid subject position, the autobiographical and fictional narratives in her multi-disciplinary projects explore infinite and unforeseen possibilities for our entanglement with each other – including the Earth and non-human others, such as plants, objects and plant-based matter. Experimenting with multilingual storytelling and collaborative processes of writing, thinking, learning and art making, her research-based practice presents a multiplicity of viewpoints and voices that question dualistic thought and re-imagine the notion of belonging beyond the human.