Video Performance 2019

“Labyrinth” begins with what seems like an entirely white screen: indeed, every inch of the walls and floor are white, and it takes the viewer a second for their eyes to adjust to the fact that this whiteness is not flat. Rather, the structure is a white maze: sharp 90 degree corners, hidden pathways and dead-ends compose a 3-dimensional space of particular depth. Nezaket Ekici enters the camera’s view dressed in a long white, draping costume, hoisting a white flag. This costume is from her 2017 performance “83 Nationen Schmallenberg”. As the video continues, over 50 costumes from the 300 different performances and installations of Nezaket’s oeuvre are worn; each time Ekici emerges from a different part of the maze, often surprising the viewer with a dance or action derived from the costume’s original performance. Take for example, Ekici’s red and black joggers clothing, camera in hand, a distinct reference to her performance “Zeitgeist” (taking place first in Santa Monica in 2006, and performed elsewhere since then). By showcasing these costumes, Ekici does not simply seek to allude to her own past, but also comments on the importance of costumes in constructing meaningful art. By isolating the viewer from all distractions, giving them only a background of white walls, Ekici compels the audience to view these costumes as constituting art in and of themselves. Furthermore, a deep philosophical commentary also emerges. The labyrinth by its nature is an cryptic and totalizing structure. Everything within the maze, every turn and pivot, is revealed to us as a surprise—highlighting the existential unknowability of the future. In Ekici’s performance as well as in life, one cannot fully know the path that is right, and all our endeavors are experiments in pursuit of an authentic and meaningful existence. To do so, we must undergo self-revolutions, changes that, like the many different works represented by Ekici’s costumes, bring us to think of our place and time in fundamentally different ways. In “Labyrinth” the artist who once escaped the golden cage of “But All that Glitters is Not Gold” (2014) is brought into proximity alongside costumes from “Screaming Feathers” (2006) and “Hatchet” (2016). Through a single performance, Ekici transcends the durational passing of time and the shifting of place—bringing all art to fruition in one location, augmenting their existential connection to each other. (Text: Jono Wang Chu)

White maze wooden structure, varied costumes

Video Duration: 29:36min Live Duration: 3 Hours

Costumes referenced from: 1. „83 Nationen Schmallenberg“ (2017) 2. „Screaming Feathers“ (since 2006) 3. „Unity“ (2008) 4. „Parfume River“ (2010) 5. „Tube“ (since 2008) 6. „Hullabelly“ (since 2002) 7. „Short but Hurting“ (since 2007) 8. „Emotion in Motion“ (since 2000) 9. „I had a dream“ (since 2002) 10. „Orient und Okzident_ Islamic Women“ (2004) 11. „Framing“ (2010) 12. „Daydream“ (since 2006) 13. „Discipulus“ (2011) 14. „Zeitgeist“ (since 2006) 15. „Madonna“ (since 2008) 16. „A