Iranian artist Babak Golkar questions the ‘idea of freedom’ in the social and political world by creating a minimalistic architecture exhibit at the Sanatorium Art Gallery in Beyoğlu. Golkar raises social and political structure awareness, as his exhibit titled ‘Black Cube: Moving Toward the Abstract Light,’ welcomes viewers to unravel the reality of freedom and the current events in the world.
The artist Babak Golkar is extremely interested in the power of architecture and control of movement. He uses minimalistic features in his art exhibits and works.
He thinks the power of architecture has the potential to control the movement. “The architecture leads you, it tells you to go on a certain way, or up or down,” he said during an interview.
However, what is more significant about his works and installations are the metaphorical approach of the architecture that he uses. “Architecture can control your life, your social movements,” he said. Golkar’s metaphor for architecture also deals with religious and political structures and how structure shapes people’s social lives and movements.
Sanatorium is a small art gallery, found just near the Santa Maria Draparis Church, which is made with neo-classic stones. The church has gone through lots of transformation since it has become the way it is today.
Golkar’s current project or installation at Sanatorium creates a perfect contrast with this architecture. His minimalistic, three-dimensional black cube, which may also be seen as a social or religious structure, such as Kaabah or political situations in the world, has been installed in the middle of the gallery. To see the work that he has launched, audiences first must enter the black cube, which refers to the control of movement. “The installation tells you to go to a certain way,” he said.
After entering the black cube, visitors must go up a ladder and then suddenly come across a yellow slide. “In order to see the actual piece and discover the meaning behind it, you have to slide,” he said.
“It is very important for me to create a bodily relationship with the work,” he said. “The idea of the black cube deals with ideas of minimalism and this creates the idea of contrast in terms of architecture.”
White Cube is a famous gallery in London, while Golkar’s usage of “Black Cube” is sometimes compared to the Kaabah in Mecca. “This is the metaphor of social architecture and how architecture can control our lives,” Golkar said.
[HH] Questioning the idea of freedom
The most existential, striking part about Golkar’s cube installation is the “text” that he has written with neon lights. After sliding down the slide, visitors witness a divine moment when they see the writing, which makes them question their own freedom.
“It is a sociological text. It is very forceful. It is telling something to the viewer and it gives information. This information can be true or false and make the viewer question their own freedom,” said Golkar.
From this point of view, the installation not only leads the viewer to express bodily but mentally.
The writing on the black wall, which lies in the Black Cube says “Your days of freedom are numbered.”
“We always think that we are free and that’s absolute crap. Thinking that you are a free person becomes a habit. However, our lives are controled, even it is controled by a simple Facebook page,” said Golkar.
The writing not only refers to the social lives of people. This also refers to the political issues, according to Golkar. The writing on the wall also refers to the political situation. Golkar uses the details of his multi-cultural life.
His Iranian roots and his Western roots combine and create a combination in his works. That’s why the text lies as an example of the social and political reference.
The lives of people in the Arab world, the chaos that they are going through also raise the question: How free are they in the social and political world? This text has a say in every kind of detail in life. Looking at the text and questioning the idea of freedom make the viewer realize that the idea of freedom is total “crap,” as Golkar put it in his own words.
“This text can be evaluated as a spiritual or existential concept, or maybe just the opposite,” he added.
The Black Cube moves from city to city and the neon light text unravels the question of freedom. That’s when the “freedom” vanishes and a new idea of freedom starts within this cube.