Page - 101 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Lora Sariaslan | The Art of Migration 101 it includes a motor and track upon which a broom made from a wig sweeps the ex- hibition space. The broom goes around the rooms in a monotonous motion, depicting a portrait of feminine domestic life evoking the literal translation of the Turkish phrase ‘turning my hair into a broom’ used by Turkish housewives to express frustration towards their spouse. Koçyiğit’s inspiration of the mundane daily routine of a housewife governs the artwork providing a narrative of everyday existence conditioned by cultural convention and tradition. There were other components to the installation: a refrigerator with a half open door that had made a dent literally in the floor with its opening and closing with the sentence “Sometimes I check the fridge ten times to see if it is really closed” with its let- ters made out of crochet (Fig. 6). The labo- riousness and repetition of such paranoia is reflected in the intricate stitching, undertak- en by two old ladies, to contain a phrase that can be read and checked via the fridge time and time again. After spending weeks work- ing together to create a decoratively pat- terned text, the final work takes seconds to read and is essentially functionless. It also re- veals an essential dichotomy between visual and verbal language highlighting the artist’s interest in the value of local crafts and time. Everything (2009) (Fig. 7) embodies the text ‘Everything you heard about Turkish men is true’ in lace. The perfunctory nature of the statement is no different than the prej- udice it affirms. Koçyiğit contrasts this with the slow production process of the lace that women embroider over the course of months. As the hand crochets the letters into words, the movement of the hand, parallels that of how narratives move and circulate. Through a sentence that triggers one’s memory, or preconceived notions and past feelings everything one reads and hears, merges with what is in front of them. Certain dichotomies frame this work, masculine and feminine, tradition and modernity, expe- riences and expectations, past and present. He detaches these dichotomies from their contexts, Fig. 7: Servet Koçyiğit, Everything, 2009. Handmade Crochet, 160 x 320 x 10 cm. Cour- tesy of the artist. Fig. 8: Servet Koçyiğit, East by Night, 2015. Textile Collage, 120 x 170 cm. Courtesy of the Vehbi Koç Foundation Contemporary Art Collection.