Page - 97 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Lora Sariaslan | The Art of Migration 97 through the streets and squares of Istanbul, Frankfurt, Mexico City, Paris and Tokyo. The Somersaulting man is an ironic symbol for anything considered different, with which Tur explores the boundaries between the normal and abnormal, acceptable and unacceptable, offering a unique hands-(and body)-on approach to dealing with society at large. Partially touching the ground and partially in air, the act of somersaulting can also be regarded as pal- intropic, meaning that which “turns again – which keeps turning” which loops back or “turns back on itself” or is “back-stretched” – a going back to oneself, a flipping back to oneself, a sort of system of renversement.14 Hence, the child-like performance of Tur can indeed be seen as the embodiment of the artist going back to him/herself. Tur provides strategies for looking at the many ways in which cultural identity is configured and (re)positioned. This includes the expression of cultural identity through mechanisms that do not necessarily confirm or deny, but rather renounce belief and conviction. The topic of the self and identity continues in Tur’s oeuvre through one of his latest pieces. Who am I? (2017) (Fig. 3) is a continuation of his work that focuses on who we are. Created on a (seeming bathroom) mir- ror that has steamed up and the only part that is visible is cleaned over manually. This is precisely the section of the mirror that vi- sually connects the viewer to the work by allowing to view/see him/ herself. Below one sees the ques- tion “Who am I?” written as if with a finger on the surface of the steamed mirror. The work creates a genuine conversation with the viewer and asks the fundamental question of who we are. Remind- ing one of the Libyan poet Khaled Mattawa who in his attempt to sum up his sense of being and be- longing writes in his poem History of my Face: “Is that my face I see/ reflected in your eyes?”15 In a ges- ture reminiscent of cleaning the surface of the mirror and making it visible to the viewer, Tur enables the possibility to get awareness to what it means to see rather than a thing that destructs the ability to 14 Andre Aciman, False Papers (New York: Picador, 2001), 139. 15 Khaled Mattawa, ‘History of My Face’, in Belonging and Globalization: Critical Essays in Contemporary Art and Culture, edited by Kamal Boullata (London: Saqi, 2008), 26. Fig. 3: Nasan Tur, Who am I ?, 2017. Mirror, 100 x 80 cm. Courtesy of the artist, and Dirimart, Istanbul and Deweer Gallery, Otegem.