Introduction
Lina İrem Arditty (Twitter, @Instagram) is a Turkish artist examining the mind-body connection and experience of figural-cognitive deterioration through black and white photography. She grew up interested in art with a painter for a father, later finding her own voice with film photography. Lina studied film at university with an interest in cinematography, merging her interests in film and photography. She is married to Burka Bayram and always keeps a camera with her for when the next photo may arise.
Shelter in Art
With childhood exposure to painting from her father, she describes herself growing up as a child who "was always into paints and paintings." She chose to find her own artistic medium, citing her relationship with her father, but continued to pursue a love for imagining visuals. In high school, she came across analog cameras and found a passion for playing with stale films and lomography cameras. She remembers friends always wanting to meet because she was taking their Facebook profile pictures.
When health issues ensued, photography became the primary outlet to introspect and reflect. Photography became a getaway.
Photography is in a very sincere and personal place for me. When I thought I had no place to take shelter because of my illnesses, photography always healed me and continues to do so. There are moments when I have to stand up and force myself to feel good just to take a picture.
Revealing the Inner Other
Through photography, Lina enjoys the process she describes as "trying to get to know another person." She seeks to understand where her body "went wrong" and the disconnections in the immune and central nervous system. Her art documents bodily disassociation and the ensuing uncanny experiences.
I often find myself in a fight with my consciousness and my sense of self, imply that there is a second self within me and communicating with that self feels like trying to get to know another person.
Unplanned and Therapeutic
Lina always keeps her camera nearby, ascribing an impulsive, spontaneous nature for her art practice:
I don't make any plans in advance, everything happens when I take the camera in my hand because this way I can relax my mind. It's like going to therapy. We do not go to therapy with preparing sentence by sentence what you will talk about beforehand, that conversation develops with the communication you establish with the person in front of you at that moment.
When later editing her photos, she seeks emotional resonance between her current feelings and whichever version of the photograph conveys it more purely. Lina will often spend a long time looking at the photographs and writing, while experimenting with different edits. Sometimes these feelings are a meditation on what her body cannot do.
Explaining this in more detail can sometimes be challenging for me. All I can say is that the bond between me and the photography is very strong and empowering. Something that allows me to know my own body better thanks to the visor, that is with me wherever I go, that helps me visualize everything that my body does not allow.
For Lina, the photography is a lens into alternatives.
The Freedom of Expression
As a result of the initial psychological ups and downs with her illness, she moved away from color and turned to a completely black and white style. Lina cites the processes she lives in for shaping what she visualizes:
Black and white is a way for me to escape the manipulation of emotions. Because I produce images that are open to manipulation in the content and this is my way of expressing myself. I may seem like I'm trying to stay within a certain pattern, but actually it's the opposite, I feel more free that way. My obsession with this freedom also stems from my inability to stop feeling constrained inside my body. The source of the images that I produce in the freedom of black and white, away from colors due to the conflicts of my body and mind, is inspired by what develops in my mind.
#TezQuakeAid
As Turkish artists, Lina and Burka felt the calling to do something in the aftermath of the earthquake. Lina recounts witnessing how hard Burka worked with wonderful people in the Tezos community, and got involved herself. Lina used the same spontaneous approach as she does for her typical photography, however, this time from the point of view of the community rather than her own subjectivity. 100% of all proceeds from primary and royalties are going to relief efforts.
Lina has contributed two pieces to the #TezQuakeAid efforts. The first, titled "#TezQuakeAid" has 62 editions available on the primary market at a cost of 1XTZ each with a 25% royalty on secondary sales. All of the primary and secondary proceeds go to the fundraising contract.
The second piece, "My heart in ruins", was an edition of 1000, with 936 copies available on primary at this time. This item isn't integrated directly into the fundraising wallet, but will be donated by Lina to AHBAP.org. Editions are available for purchase at 1 XTZ each and have a 10% secondary royalty.
Conclusion
We would like to thank Lina for contributing to the efforts of #TezQuakeAid and taking the time to share her artistic journey with us. If you would like to support her and other artists you can find all of their artwork here. Let us know your favorites on Twitter, or jump into our Discord server.
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