Essay Güven Incirlioglu, 04/2005
A particular brand of violence is the underlying theme in Ethem Özgüven's works, something peculiar to this part of the world. Violence in this sense is neither the unprovoked assault of the schizophrenic, alienated being, nor solely the terror by a highly organised apparatus of power, but it is something transparent, consensual and motivated almost with “the very best of intentions”. The divided psyche in between tradition and change is prone to turn to the ordinary fascism of the everyday life and governing, in the name of the family, the nation, religion, progress, development, modernity, recognition, and ultimately, profit. In some cases, whatever is initiated for the benefit of the majority in terms of jobs and opportunities (gold mining_”The people of the light's long walk”) eventually turns against their very livelihood, against the Earth and the life, defying law, court orders and massive protests of the inhabitants. In other instances, the “traditional” means of settling the matters of the family (violence against women_”F”) clash with the long sought after westernisation and become doubly murderous. Yet in other terms, the most “ecologically friendly” industry (global tourism_”Little lake”) is set to reign free and unchecked to a degree to lead to the extreme barbarisms of the tourist and the locals, pillaging of the land and the sea. More, the integrated complex of advertising, corporate media, and sports (football) as the spectacle of the lynching mob, are packaged and manipulated together to turn everyone into an accomplice in this transparent violence (“Delirium”).
There had been more to this country's documented atrocities in the past: military coups and their bloody aftermath, detentions, torture and executions, burnt villages in the Southeast, forced migrations and “unsolved” assassinations as the manifest violence inflicted in the name of the nation. Moreover, Mafioso organisations and massive corruption indicated a violent robbery of the wealth of the people. And all this under the auspices of some “authority”, but more importantly, and sadly, most with a nodding “yes” from tranquillised masses of ordinary fascism.
In his works, Ethem Özgüven is very much aware that the violence is widespread and the perpetrators are often so diffused, almost to include “all of us” as the consenting accomplices in the crime. Nevertheless, with an ethical point of view and without resorting to manifest “moralism”, he deconstructs the power mechanisms behind evil by using well known genres of manipulating public opinion, namely the fast paced montage of advertising and the “neutral” discourse of the documentary, sometimes to mock their “reliability”. His social advertising “spots” are a direct response and a critique of the profession (of advertising) that has been mostly hallowed out, but sprinkled with the discourses of “creativity”.
Ultimately, all boils down to the stand, the bearing that the artist/intellectual cannot (or, should not) avoid in this part of the world against a violent existence, under the given disposition of power and capital in a globalised world. In other words, to lead a life to wake somebody up: look what we have done to other peoples, to Earth and our towns, our history, to the birds and the fishes and to our very lives that became so dull and impoverished when we become the silent accomplices in this invisible crime committed in our name…