Finding artistry in the collection of garbage
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Işıl Eğrikavuk
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 28, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - If Istanbul is a factory that produces tons of waste everyday, its main recyclers are the freelance garbage collectors who go from street to street, collecting cans, bottles, paper and every other recyclable item directly from the bins.
In a city that accommodates more than 12 million people, Istanbul is estimated to have over 100,000 garbage collectors. Considering that there are hardly any recycling bins in the city, garbage collectors contribute a great deal to the recycling economy, handling more than 90 percent of it.
These facts might sound like the beginning of a story on city planning. Yet, this is the first step of an art project, called STARGEM, or Garbage Collectors Research and Development Center. Run by two artists, Güneş Terkol and Burak Delier, together with sociologist Eylem Akçay, STARGEM is an open ended project that advocates art being a platform for formulating social relationships and aims to collaborate with garbage collectors for different projects.
"I had long been thinking about doing something with garbage collectors, especially starting a research center that would develop from within," Burak Delier said. "After my research I came across Eylem, who had already worked on the subject. And together with Güneş, we started STARGEM."
The three chose PiST, an alternative art space in Pangaltı, as their meeting and working place, where they go and work four days a week. "When we started STARGEM, we did not have a specific idea about what it would be. Then we discovered that there was a storage space nearby, where garbage collectors go and put their stuff. So we went there and we started speaking to them. Then Osman joined us, too," Delier said.
Osman Gülek, 33, works in Istanbul’s Pangaltı area as a garbage collector. When he met the three, he said he wasn’t quite able to understand what the three of them wanted exactly.
"We actually didn't want to do anything for the garbage collectors. We are not offering any solutions to help them," Eylem Akçay said. "On the contrary we are avoiding grand solutions to existing problems. And we are inviting more garbage collectors to come and speak to us."
After a few conversations, and with suggestions from Osman, they decide to make a bag for Osman's two-wheeled garbage basket, on which there is Osman's favorite Turkish singer Ferdi Tayfur. "We made a Ferdi Tayfur bag out of clothes, because Osman really likes him," Terkol said. "But this was only an early idea, there were other things we wanted to do together." Another project they came up with was to make a pedestal out of trash. "We collected all the trash we could find; plastic bottles, bins, cans, paper and a chair. And we made it into a pedestal similar to the ones used under sculptures. Then we left it in front of a public sculpture in a park in Maçka," Delier said. "There are so many sculptures symbolizing the power of the state and the ruling class. We wanted to reverse that and remind people that our civilization is indeed rising on trash."
The three are also continuing to organize talks, video screenings and workshops, where they are opening debate on issues of waste and recycling. Participation in these activities is free of charge and open to everyone.
Not a UN project
STARGEM is not a social responsibility project where artists try to get funding from higher institutions, such as the World Bank or the United Nations to help the lower class, yet there is still the question of why such a collaboration needs to exist between the middle and lower classes. What if such projects opened their doors and invited a group of bankers or doctors? Would that be easier or more difficult?
"The kind of collaboration we are talking about is not really directed towards the middle class. We are also analyzing the already existing relationship between these two classes and that includes definitions and assumptions made by the middle class over and about the other," Akçay said.
STARGEM began in January and will continue until March at PiST. Again one can’t help wonder if this is enough time to form a continuous dialogue. "We don't think of our relationship with the garbage collectors as an obligation. And we don't have utopian ideas like reaching all the garbage collectors," said Akçay. "Whether temporary or permanent, it has caused a change in the public sphere." STARGEM is not only pointing its finger at an urban issue but also at other platforms that art can house. If art indeed offers us a particular language to understand the world, perhaps the first step is to get rid of its four walls.
These facts might sound like the beginning of a story on city planning. Yet, this is the first step of an art project, called STARGEM, or Garbage Collectors Research and Development Center. Run by two artists, Güneş Terkol and Burak Delier, together with sociologist Eylem Akçay, STARGEM is an open ended project that advocates art being a platform for formulating social relationships and aims to collaborate with garbage collectors for different projects.
"I had long been thinking about doing something with garbage collectors, especially starting a research center that would develop from within," Burak Delier said. "After my research I came across Eylem, who had already worked on the subject. And together with Güneş, we started STARGEM."
The three chose PiST, an alternative art space in Pangaltı, as their meeting and working place, where they go and work four days a week. "When we started STARGEM, we did not have a specific idea about what it would be. Then we discovered that there was a storage space nearby, where garbage collectors go and put their stuff. So we went there and we started speaking to them. Then Osman joined us, too," Delier said.
Osman Gülek, 33, works in Istanbul’s Pangaltı area as a garbage collector. When he met the three, he said he wasn’t quite able to understand what the three of them wanted exactly.
"We actually didn't want to do anything for the garbage collectors. We are not offering any solutions to help them," Eylem Akçay said. "On the contrary we are avoiding grand solutions to existing problems. And we are inviting more garbage collectors to come and speak to us."
After a few conversations, and with suggestions from Osman, they decide to make a bag for Osman's two-wheeled garbage basket, on which there is Osman's favorite Turkish singer Ferdi Tayfur. "We made a Ferdi Tayfur bag out of clothes, because Osman really likes him," Terkol said. "But this was only an early idea, there were other things we wanted to do together." Another project they came up with was to make a pedestal out of trash. "We collected all the trash we could find; plastic bottles, bins, cans, paper and a chair. And we made it into a pedestal similar to the ones used under sculptures. Then we left it in front of a public sculpture in a park in Maçka," Delier said. "There are so many sculptures symbolizing the power of the state and the ruling class. We wanted to reverse that and remind people that our civilization is indeed rising on trash."
The three are also continuing to organize talks, video screenings and workshops, where they are opening debate on issues of waste and recycling. Participation in these activities is free of charge and open to everyone.
Not a UN project
STARGEM is not a social responsibility project where artists try to get funding from higher institutions, such as the World Bank or the United Nations to help the lower class, yet there is still the question of why such a collaboration needs to exist between the middle and lower classes. What if such projects opened their doors and invited a group of bankers or doctors? Would that be easier or more difficult?
"The kind of collaboration we are talking about is not really directed towards the middle class. We are also analyzing the already existing relationship between these two classes and that includes definitions and assumptions made by the middle class over and about the other," Akçay said.
STARGEM began in January and will continue until March at PiST. Again one can’t help wonder if this is enough time to form a continuous dialogue. "We don't think of our relationship with the garbage collectors as an obligation. And we don't have utopian ideas like reaching all the garbage collectors," said Akçay. "Whether temporary or permanent, it has caused a change in the public sphere." STARGEM is not only pointing its finger at an urban issue but also at other platforms that art can house. If art indeed offers us a particular language to understand the world, perhaps the first step is to get rid of its four walls.