Hale Tenger

This sculpture is part of a series of works from the early nineties, which translate the upheavals and psychological frictions of recent turkish history into dramatic installations. »Sikimden aşağı Kasımpaşa / I don’t give a fuck« is a well known Turkish idiom. In this work the artist employs three different formal connotations – the curvy blade from the Ottoman times, the ceremony sword of the Republican army and a children’s toy – for the swords hanging above a cauldron of blood, hinting at the perpetual reproduction of violence. Referring to a string of coup d’États, terrorist assaults and spiralling violence in everyday life of a specific geography, this installation assumes another layer when located in the Marmorsaal. The hall is decorated by portraits of head figures of Enlightenment.