Turkish artists harness sustainable art to propel environmental awareness

ANKARA (AA) : Asolitary piece of artwork represents the most rapid and unbiased method to promote awareness regarding sustainability and the environment, according to a Turkish artist.

“Thousands of texts are written about sustainability and solutions are still sought, but we can convey all these messages with a single work of art. Art is the fastest and most impartial means of communication,” visual artist Deniz Sağdıç told Anadolu Agency (AA).

Sağdıç wants to inspire eco-friendly sustainable ideas while drawing attention to the sustainability of art.

“Sustainable art deals with the sustainability of the object and the sustainability of art. Sustainability of art has an approach on the evaluation of public spaces other than conventional art venues such as museums and private art galleries,” she said.

Sağdıç created the “Ready Remade” series in the 2010s and started creating works with pieces of denim fabric that were recycled.

“In those years, the concepts of recycling and upcycling were not yet talked about. In time, materials such as plastic, cardboard, paper, cables and electronic circuit parts began to be added to this fabric material,” she said.

She wants to recreate all kinds of waste products and objects in the world of art with the principle of recycling and upcycling.

“No materials are used mixed in my works because separated waste is not garbage, it is raw material,” she said.

Explaining how she turned to sustainable art, she said she wanted to stand against the “consumer culture” and popular culture that is directed toward consumption, with which she feels uncomfortable.

“We talk about sustainability as a popular concept now, but this is not a new topic. Nowadays, advertising culture has adopted the recycled, nature-friendly advertising language,” she said.

Turkish scrap artist Asaf Erdemli said he used all automobile and industrial scraps, unusable wheelchairs, hospital and governmental institutions’ scraps, and household and kitchen waste for his works.

“I started with metal materials when creating my own language, but now I use metal, plastic, stone, wood or completely different materials,” said Erdemli.

He said turning scrap materials into art pieces contributes to sustainability and he used original forms of materials without painting them.

“For example, iron can be recycled, but we spend a lot of energy on this. Using less energy for turning the scrap into art is also sustainable,” he said.

Stressing that he is not a scrap artist who only focuses on figurative works, he said he criticized certain problems and concepts through his sculptures.

“I give messages behind my works in the most naive way by presenting the criticism on an art platform,” he said, adding that finding the idea phase is a little longer than making the product.

Noting that artists must “raise awareness” through their works of art, he said: “Instead of producing a solution or giving advice, the artist should choose to reveal the situation and criticize the problem. I think this is a more valuable way.”