With the contemporary implementation of censorship practices and concept distortions as advanced strategies in politics, economics, and other critical fields, the social anatomies of states are changing and transforming in the context of nation–culture relationships.
Societies struggling with the complexities of nation-state identity, in particular, become susceptible to transformation through these new strategies employed by authorities. When power operates bypassing filters such as consciousness and enlightenment, it creates an aura of authority dominated by increasingly rigid and insincere political practices. Such governance can rapidly reshape socio-cultural perceptions and cause significant disruption within society.
Power enacts these transformations by displacing political, linguistic, and cultural representations, building structures that lack solid foundations. These maneuvers can be interpreted as a form of “blackout.” This blackout not only signals a pseudo-state of war but can also be presented to society as the set of precautions taken in response to this fabricated threat.
This effort to transform societal perception can be observed, in particular, in the power of mass media: in the tragic images that pass before our eyes, in those crushed under the flow of everyday life, and, more broadly, in the evolving meanings of concepts and the grand statements and discourses that shape history and the present day.
Fırat Engin brings all these observations together in his exhibition titled “Blackout,” using his unique artistic language to create representations and metaphors through diverse materials and techniques.