Derya Hanife Altan-Traps

A warm summer day at grandma's house—that is where I go when sitting with Derya Altan's new traps. Inspired by primitive traps used to capture small wild animals, the two new objects in Altan's ghost trap series come a step closer to home, luring the viewer into her thought space through an inventive and visceral use of materials. For example; the Maine lobster trap, made out of sand-encrusted cardboard and homey, crochet afghan becomes a space very familiar to those raised in suburbia. Altan cleverly plays, making puns with the common parts of the trap—flooring the "kitchen" in linoleum and the "parlor" of the trap in tan carpeting. Sitting in the belly of the trap are the book Franny and Zooy by J.D. Salinger and a set of kid-sized keys luring the viewer in with the ghost.

The term ghost, for the artist, gets a new meaning; it refers to those parts of yourself that are hidden or cast away for social normality. Altan spoke of them as parts of your personality you have "unresolved relationships" with; in creating these traps, she tries to settle them. In the lobster trap, she examines duality living in different aspects of our personalities. On one hand is the alluring, comforting possibility of returning home as an adult and on the other is a view of this option as a trap. She uses this object as a way of capturing the part of herself, the ghost, so that so that she will not get caught.

Through Altan's personal explorations in these objects, she opens up a familiar dialogue box in the viewer. Her potent use of materials lure you into a mind-space soaked in the leftovers of teen angst and introspection. Much of Altan's work brings me to think about my own perspective on life and these new works leave me thinking about a question proposed by Mugi Takei, "is this work sexy, or not sexy?"

UNIFORM: SIGNIFIER OF AUTHORITY

"The uniform is the institutional skin," say Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofido in the book Flesh, "it identifies a body's specific function in a given institution and thus defines the behavior of others."

To me the uniform works in a secret code transmitting exactly how the wearer should be treated. Some uniforms function in all settings (like a fireman's uniform,) while others are more site specific. The ambiguity of these uniforms that depend on location for completing their social cues makes them an interesting subject for testing. For example, a navy blue button up shirt in one environment—an elementary school hallway—may indicate a janitor, someone who is often ignored and summoned only for extremely disgusting jobs, yet in another setting—a police office—this same article of clothing could indicate a position of ultimate authority. This specific zone could be used to challenge and call out an individual's subconscious in a test of free association.