 |
 |
Thing of the month February 2012:
ALI BAKOVA: INTO THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
![]() |
 |
|
Mustafa, ALI BAKOVA, 2009 |
Mustafa (the Series Prison Break), 2009
Designed by Ali Bakova, and handmade in jail by prisoners, the small robot doll Mustafa is one of the stars of the latest show at the Museum der Dinge, ISTANBUL ALPHABET - from çokçok to zikzak, an exhibition that set itself also the mission to go on the search for the elements that make the uniqueness of the language of the emerging design scene of Europe’s largest megapolis. One of these characteristics is that, totally in line with Ettore Sottsass’ adagio, designers like Bakova see themselves first and foremost as a storyteller.
"And while telling these stories I also go on the search for the flip side of things", says Ali Bakova. "The ruling design world, especially in Turkey, where the cultural legacy may be rich, but the industry is poor in ideas, wants us to believe that good design is about nice, beautiful, shiny things without a single crack in their surface. From that point of view you could say that I want to be as bad a designer as possible. Take Mustafa, a joyful object, but produced in jail, by prisoners. It is basically just the universal toy, but I added a moustache, a
cigarette, and a star on his back – in order to convert it into a
typical Turkish macho. Whereas his face is little more than an evil eye,
he holds a mirror to many. I want these designs to be like a pair of
binoculars. Everyone tells you that you should use binoculars one way,
in order to enjoy a nice perspective. But if you turn them around, what
do you see? A darkness that is as real and fascinating as the Dark Side
of the Moon, and which I want to include in my objects. I want these
objects to be like you and me, human, and therefore bad in their
goodness, while providing them with a past, a memory, dreams and
nightmares, secrets and mysteries, a disability even. Some may even turn
out to be misfits, and like Mustafa, kitsch, Turkitsch."
|
|
|
|
