The Rug - No.1 [Gate of Gates]

The Rug - No.1 [Gate of Gates]
by Otto Batuhan Türker
2019-2021 / Wall Installation

Studio Otto Turker presents the awarded 'The Rug' serie. Otto Turker's Turkish prayer rugs are carved from the over-painted canvases, introduced as fictional fossils of an archeological inquiry. Took almost 600 hours to excavate each (2019-2021), every panel carries approximately 30 kilograms of paint. The top end and the bottom end of the canvas are combed as soft fringes. The Rug is presented with a plexiglass unit containing the carved acrylic remains representing the artist's eternal discovery.

Turker's discovery begins with the artist painting the canvas that he likens to a colormatic diary, layer by layer in colors that he associates with his self. The canvas that Turker painted for months will became an archaeological excavation site where the artist will be alone with himself to carve into the depths. The rug, that he explore by carving the canvas, is the metaphor of his earthly existence and his body in which the artist's soul fits. The rug that could not be completed during the archaeological excavation became a representation of that the artist will never reach his true essence and his never-ending quest no matter how long it is excavated. This elusiveness was put into a museological state by exhibiting the rug together with the carved remains, the artist’s eternal discovery was exhibited like a fossil.

Technical Information:

Wall Installation Volume: 130 cm x 70 cm x 25 cm
Acrylic on Canvas, wooden panel: 70 cm x 118 cm x 2 cm
Acrylic Remains in Plexiglass Unit: 10 cm x 25 cm x 70 cm

* signed and dated at the back by the artist.
** the wall sculpture has arrangements at the back to hang.
*** the piece will be sent with a certificate of authenticity, introductory documents for installation and the backup pigments for the restoration.