Gülsün Karamustafa
Vulnerable

2017

EB93

Velvet box with scissors and object
23.5 x 16.5 x 4.5 cm

7 variations (A-G), signed and numbered
3 exemplars each

1.200 Euro each
7.000 Euro as a set with 7 variations

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more editions by Gülsün Karamustafa
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. An open black velvet box with a pair of scissors and a white feather inside
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. 2 black velvet caskets next to each other, one closed, one open with a pair of scissors and a white feather inside
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. View of the opened black velvet box with a pair of scissors and a white ribbon
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. View of the opened black velvet box with a pair of scissors and a white feather
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. View of the open black velvet box with the petal of a plastic flower
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. View of the opened black velvet box with a pair of scissors and a strand of hair
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. View of the opened black velvet box with a pair of scissors and a piece of a bobbin lace blanket
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. View of the opened black velvet box with a pair of scissors and a net with a small shard
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. View of the opened black velvet box with a pair of scissors and a cut-up letter
Edition by Gülsün Karamustafa. 7 open black velvet caskets stand in a row. Each with a pair of scissors and another object inside

    The work Vulnerable consists of seven different motifs. Each black velvet-lined box contains a pair of scissors and another object: a letter, a feather, a crocheted coaster, hair, a piece of ceramic in wire mesh, petals, a typewritten ribbon. Each object has a more or less clearly identifiable personal connection. The crumpled letter is a letter written in Ottoman script by the artist’s grandfather, presumably to her grandmother. The “dantel” is a typical Turkish handicraft and comes from the family estate. Karamustafa personally recovered the tile shard from the former Greek village of Kayaköy, which is now an abandoned ruin. The ribbon was typed on her father’s typewriter; he was a journalist. In addition to these concrete, albeit fragmentary narratives, objects such as the feather, flower, and hair symbolize general states of vulnerability and transience. The feather bears the image of a broken wing, the cut hair could be reminiscent of a loved one, the leaves of the rose are falling off. Karamustafa leaves it up to the viewer to decide what stories the paired objects tell. Since the mid-1970s, the artist, whose multimedia work has had a significant influence on younger generations to this day, has been dealing with themes such as migration, resistance and politically motivated nomadism, pop culture and tradition, feminism and gender, the socio-political upheavals in Turkey since the military coup of 1971, and the Western view of the “Orient”. Each of the seven motifs was produced in an edition of three copies.
    Text: Eva Scharrer