OPUS: A PARA-OPERA STRUCTURE
1. KONVOLUT
1.1 MUSAKHAN
The first passage of the Konvolut section, “Musakhan,” written by İrem Günaydın in the bespoke typeface “Hamaset,” designed by Yetkin Başarır. The letters of “OPUS,” handwritten by Irem Günaydın, are embedded into the passage. Musakhan is a Palestinian dish composed of roasted chicken baked with onions, sumac, allspice, saffron, and fried pine nuts served over taboon bread.
Vinyl letters on transparent colored vinyl, 184x334 cm.
"ON THE EASTERN COAST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, EXPLOSIONS LIGHT UP THE NIGHT SKY AS THE MOTHER PREPARES A SUMAC SPICED MUSAKHAN DISH WITH SWEET ONIONS, PINE NUTS, AND TABOON BREAD."
"ON THE EASTERN COAST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, EXPLOSIONS LIGHT UP THE NIGHT SKY AS THE MOTHER PREPARES A SUMAC SPICED MUSAKHAN DISH WITH SWEET ONIONS, PINE NUTS, AND TABOON BREAD."
Details from the MUSAKHAN
Details from the MUSAKHAN
Perhaps,
OPUS: A Para-Opera Structure is a long-term research-based foundation free of walls incorporating text, design, and performing arts. I see OPUS as a scaffold to co-construct, support, and maintain relationships with people I collaborate with as it progresses. It will also provide on-site access to heights and areas that would otherwise be hard for an artist to reach. It represents research I will carry out over time on the intersection and interweaving of the following bodies: support, structure, justice, protest, resistance, truth, their connotation, event, as the text, and text as all. OPUS attempts to contextualize a living structure that seeks ways to draw the line, withdraw, diverge, and rupture between these bodies and put the distinction between them under erasure. It is an attempt to engender a table of contents, which need not be rigid but should be seen continuously evolving through research and collaborations.
OPUS as a practice. OPUS as a process. OPUS as an approach.
Opus translates to "work" in English. It can also refer to a composer's composition; the Latin plural word for opus is opera. OPUS is structured into fragments. The fragment I am currently working on is Konvolut. This term is used for grouping sections of Walter Benjamin's Das Passagen-Werk manuscript (English translation; The Arcades Project). In Germany, konvolut has a common philological application: it refers to a larger or smaller assemblage—literally, a bundle of manuscripts or printed materials that belong together. The passages will constitute Konvolut. Each passage will be sent to the invited collaborator; in return, they will rewrite it in their handwriting. The letters O, P, U, and S in their sentences will be digitally drawn and incorporated into the rest of the passage.
Passages will be written using a bespoke typeface titled “Hamaset.” It is designed exclusively for OPUS and, as a conceptual gesture, is intended to evoke the grandeur of opera. Hamaset is a loanword from Arabic that means “enthusiasm, excessive courage, heroism.” It is also an exaggerated expression made to impress or excite the listeners. In contemporary Turkish, politicians have turned the term "Hamaset" into a verb and frequently replaced its meaning with populism and demagogy. As OPUS progresses, the font family of “Hamaset” will expand with bespoke versions that conceptually fit each section. “Hamaset” is monumental, sharp, and prickly on the outside but soft and round on the inside to create dialectical tension. Additionally, it has only uppercase letters.
The first passage of Konvolut is "MUSSAKHAN."
"ON THE EASTERN COAST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, EXPLOSIONS LIGHT UP THE NIGHT SKY AS THE MOTHER PREPARES A SUMAC SPICED MUSAKHAN DISH WITH SWEET ONIONS, PINE NUTS, AND TABOON BREAD."
MUSSAKHAN is a national Palestinian dish.
The bespoke typeface Hamaset was conceived for OPUS: A Para-Opera Structure, designed by Yetkin Bașarır
Hamaset is intended to convey the grandeur of opera.
Hamaset serves as a conceptual gesture, creating an exaggerated expression to captivate spectators.
In contemporary Turkish, politicians have turned the term "Hamaset" into a verb and frequently replaced its meaning with populism and demagogy.
