“I need this space, the space where I can be myself, to give free space to my thoughts and enter into a discourse with people.”
Name
Tuğba Durukan
Profession
Artist and someone who wants to understand the world
Website
I don’t have one yet but my instagram is @tugba_durukan_
Where are you from?
Germany/Turkey
Your style in 3 words?
language, black, to stamp
Your weakness? Your strength?
My strength, I question a lot of things, even when I realize there are only dead ends.
My weakness, I love chips and fast food….
What makes you different?
I actually don’t know, you’d probably have to ask my friends/family. Even though then, they would just praise me. Therefore, it is difficult for me to answer this question, because I don’t see myself as different than others, but I still think that every person is individual and unique. After this sentence, there should be an answer now, so I’ll say: I can breathe with and from my ears.
When did you decide to become an artist?
Only in the middle of my studies, when I realized that I can absorb and transmit everything that surrounds me in a different way. My views are not always obvious to everyone at first glance, I am aware of that, but I need this space, the space where I can be myself, to give free space to my thoughts and enter into a discourse with people. Even the dialogue with people is often very limited because the limitations of words can never absolutely represent my inner world as it really is.
What do you find most fascinating about your work?
Searching, reading, questioning, sensations, freedom
(being free without limiting myself. First of all to be able to reproduce without having a certain expectation)
A few words about your favorite creation?
I like all the works that are born from a simple and quick impulse and from a simplicity. They are honest and simple.
Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…
I’m more inspired by approaches, questions, controversies and not so much by the people themselves.
Who would you like to work with someday and why?
I would have loved to have conversations with some philosophers, such as al-Ghazālī, Avicenna (ibn Sīnā), etc., to explore their understanding of self-discovery and self-crisis even further and to be able to share with them.
Self -discovery includes having existential crisises, but in today’s world there is no room for it because of the expectation and demand that we must constantly function, and not take time to reflect on ourselves.
A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?
I would like to take a closer look at the typography of the Arabic writing system and analyze it in relation to the Latin writing system and combine them. Once I have my individual writing system from both I want to use them as text or image for newer works. The work “I believe, therefore I am” shows a small part of my research on the writing systems so far. It is still in process. I am also looking forward to exhibiting with Jakob Mönch in Cologne next March, despite Corona.
Finish the sentence “More important than my career is…”.
Love, care and the heart, if these qualities are there and beautiful, the rest will happen by itself.
2022: Where are we going?
I really have no idea.
Just when I think it’s going to be good, I get disappointed right away.
So not having expectations are the best solution for now.
When the going gets tough…
Patience…When you get tired, lean on yourself.
Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?
I suspect that many things will be easier for people due to digitalization. But I also believe that at the same time the sense of humanity and empathy will dissapear will be lost, because at some point we will be numbed by the digital and will no longer notice anything around us.
Unfortunately, a dystopian idea of mine in relation to our future.
What would you do if you could change the World?
At this point, I don’t want to think big at all, like curing cancer, etc. Not that I wouldn’t want to. I believe that even supposedly “small things”, like self-love, self-care and self-discovery can do a lot to a person, so it will come down to the greater good. After all, what is a person who can’t feel sand perceive anything?
If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?
into nothingness, where everything will be
Tell us about your future plans…
I would love to be able to speak and read Arabic fluently for a better understanding of Islam. I also want to perceive the world differently from how I do now. How? I don’t know…
Your city’s favourite spots?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any favorite places yet.
Last but not least: what is your favourite Song?
At the moment I don’t have a favorite song, but I love listening to Altingün’s songs because their songs give me a piece of childhood and the feeling of closeness to my family.
One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“
Stone, gold, wood = materials
Art = thoughts, discussions, criticism, new things
definitely art, although I have to take gold.
Your #…?
