For HOT MESS, Öğüt will invite everyone for a collective burning of his flag.
Inspired by Dutch visual artist Marinus Boezem’s postcard-sized photograph entitled “If you’d like this photo in colors, burn it” (1967-1969), Öğüt’s flag provokes the viewer to consider problematic social and political structures and strategies with merely the prompt of flag-burning as a perceptual shift. Öğüt states, “Boezem’s instructions in this artwork were never actualized, but the performative potential of the artwork brough it to life. Similar to his invitation to burn the photo, I wanted to create a flag that could inspire the imagination, instead of limiting viewers to predefined colors and symbols, and leave them feeling inert.”
Ahmet Öğüt (b. 1981, Silvan, Diyarbakir). Following Diyarbakir Fine Art high school, he completed his BA from the Fine Arts Faculty at Hacettepe University, Ankara, MA from Art and Design Faculty at Yıldız Teknik University, Istanbul. He works across different media and has exhibited widely, more recently with solo presentations at Kunstverein Dresden, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Chisenhale Gallery, and Van Abbemuseum.
Printed Flag.