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Hēdonē: An Ethical Touch to the Fashion World

April 10, 2025Read, Seeatelier, clothing, creative, fashion, fast-fashion, sustainability

Hēdonē

Hēdonē is inspired by a desire to combine the vibrant energy of club culture in Berlin with the eloquent artistry of haute couture and stage arts with a dedication to slow fashion with sustainable practices, advocating a thoughtful and intimate approach to fashion.

The founder Dorothea Tomsits’ interest in clothing and fashion goes back to over a decade long experience in theater and opera stages of Volksoper in Vienna from her childhood. Before beginning her training as a clothing technician and fashion seamstress, she studied philosophy and archeology.

^{_{Hedone by Emiliano Vittoriosi, Berlin, 2023}}

Could you explain what Hēdonē is and what it aims to achieve?

Hēdonē is a fashion brand that aims to make people aware of the value of handmade clothes, of quality and ethical production.

What inspired you to launch your own fashion brand, and how did you come to choose the name “Hēdonē”?

I have worked in the fashion and related industries long enough to witness the high level of exploitation. Over time, this took a toll on me, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, I burned out under the pressure. I decided to break away from this culture and realized that I need to make it myself. Here I am, trying to create an honest brand while being true to myself and fighting for fair work conditions in fashion.

During my search for the name, I had an inner journey to look for the things, ideas that are closest to me, the things that really matter and keep me going. The result of that journey was Hēdonē. I love that she is a female goddess. The goddess of pleasure. Born of the union of Eros and Psyche -the earthly love and the Soul. The same union I strive for in my work.

My biggest aim in life is happiness. And to find pleasure in the things you do is key to finding happiness. So, for me, Hēdonē stands for that.

As far as I understand from your words, Hēdonē is not just a new fashion brand but also a response to the social and political consequences of the industry. Could you elaborate on this perspective?

Yes, that’s true. The fast-fashion industry has stripped clothing of its charm and value in people’s eyes. Fast fashion has fueled a culture of overconsumption, leading to massive waste with a huge ecological impact on our world. On the consumer side, perfectly good garments are thrown away just to make room for the next trend. On the production side, vast amounts of clothing are thrown away too—either to maintain pricing strategies or due to overproduction.

How does your brand promote sustainable practices and ensure an exploitation-free approach to fashion production?

There are several steps that promote sustainable practices in my brand. First, I use 90% dead-stock fabrics, which means that I use fabrics that have already been produced but are left over in small quantities. For most companies, this wouldn’t be profitable and they would rather throw this part away than make use of it. So, I give them a new life instead of letting them go to waste.

Second, I only produce on demand. This way, I prevent overproduction, nor will I use my limited amounts of fabrics for items that might never sell. At the same time, I offer personalized and flexible service, as in I can make the ordered garment in the perfect size for my customer and adjust things according to their wishes. Last but not least, I make every piece myself, this way I can ensure not to exploit anyone along the way, plus I guarantee the best quality and ensure it is made to last. Sustainability also means quality for me. The longer I (can) use a product, the less new things I need to buy. Also, if a product is made to last, it will most likely also be possible to repair if things break on a long journey.

What does a typical day in your atelier look like, and how does it shape your creative process?

I would say there is no such thing as a typical day in my atelier. 😉 I plan my days with a list of tasks and adjust based on ongoing projects. This way I can be flexible in my planning and shift things around if needed. But a most enjoyable day in my atelier would mean that I am working on something with my hands. Whether it is an order that I am working on or new designs I am developing or just preparing for one of my markets.

Interestingly, the more boring the task at hand is, the stronger my urge to dive into something creative—a new design, a new collaboration or something similar. So, I try to get through my ‘must-dos’ so I can focus on my ‘want-to-dos’.

What obstacles have you encountered while pursuing an alternative vision to mainstream fashion, and what advice would you offer to others with similar dreams and aspirations?

It is a very long journey. And no matter how much you know this when you start, it is still very hard to go through it. The biggest challenge is to reach new customers who not only love your designs but are also willing to pay the price. And I believe it is not about being able to afford it. It is about understanding the value of the product. Many people are accustomed to cheaply produced, mass-manufactured clothing made thousands of kilometers away, and shifting that perception takes time. I would tell you to do it anyways. Because if I didn’t believe it was possible to educate people on how terrible the industry is and that there is an alternative, I would have given up already.

Where can our readers find your products and learn more about your work?

They can find me on Instagram: @hedone_berlin and my products are on my website: www.hedoneberlin.com. People can come and find me at my next market in Berlin (all updates on IG) or send me DM & e-mail to visit me in my atelier in Kreuzberg, Berlin. I also work on different projects in styling, stage design, and costume design, collaborating with musicians and stage artists for music videos, live performances, as well as movie productions. I try to keep an updated web and social media presence about my brand and my projects, so they can make sure to follow me on Instagram!

Hēdonē
@hedone_berlin

Interviewee: Dorothea Tomsits (the founder of Hēdonē)
_{Interviewer: Tevfik Hürkan Urhan}

Identity Dreams: Space, Migration, and Artificial Intelligence

April 10, 2025SeeAI, berlin, Housing Problem, intercultural, interdisciplinary, migration, visual arts

Balkan Karışman

Karisman is a generative artist merging digital experimentation with a computer graphics background. Inspired by urban textures, glitch aesthetics, and the interplay of reality and illusion, he crafts speculative visual narratives that blur analog and digital realms. His work invites curiosity about everyday surroundings—asking “what if?” to reveal hidden connections between the mundane and the surreal. Based in Berlin, he collaborates with multidisciplinary creators, exploring how technology can transform perception without losing the human pulse.

How did the idea for this short film emerge in your mind? There’s quite an expressive atmosphere in the film; what personal or societal issues propelled you toward this emotional intensity?

The idea for this film emerged from questioning the situation I was experiencing while preparing for an exhibition. At the time, I was searching for long-term housing in Berlin. The uncertainties, bureaucratic hurdles, and constantly shifting expectations that I encountered while trying to put down roots in the city pushed me into a mentally and emotionally exhausting process.

Rather than a mere search for physical space, the film represents a quest for identity and belonging. As I reflected on my personal experiences, visiting various homes and glimpsing diverse lives and possibilities, the uncertainty surrounding my eventual destination began to dissolve the boundaries between reality and imagination. In contemporary urban life, this pursuit is becoming increasingly challenging and complex. Hence, the film goes beyond physical space to narrate a story intertwined with existential questioning. Expressive narration and surreal imagery seemed to be the most accurate way to reflect this state of mind. I aimed to create a world where reality and imagination overlap, and mental and emotional layers melt into one another.

What do you think about the use of artificial intelligence in visual arts? As a digital art creator, how has AI’s presence in the art scene affected your creative processes, aesthetic sensibilities, or forms of expression? To what extent do you use AI in your work, and what benefits does this usage provide you?

The introduction of artificial intelligence into the art world has caused a significant rupture, similar to how photography once transformed painting. It has reaffirmed that art isn’t directly measured by labor alone. Now, what matters isn’t merely how something is produced, but what it conveys and the impact it leaves behind.

In my practice, artificial intelligence has become a direct tool. My artistic approach revolves around designing systems for visual production rather than merely creating visuals. AI has provided me with possibilities that didn’t exist before. Previously, my work involved manipulating existing photographs and videos; now, I can create entirely new, previously nonexistent images. I utilize AI not solely as an outcome-oriented production tool, but as a material and source of inspiration opening new avenues of expression. This approach propels my art practice toward greater experimentation and exploration.

Years ago, we talked with you about the digital art revolution and published that interview in our magazine. Since then, a lot has changed—especially in the visual arts, heavily influenced by artificial intelligence. Looking from today’s perspective, how do you envision the future of visual arts? How do you position yourself and your art in this transformative process?

Previously, we discussed the democratizing wave NFTs brought to the art world. At that time, the revolution was about how art was sold and distributed. Today, the transformation revolves around how art is created. AI has made the production process more accessible, enabling virtually everyone to become a creator.

How this accessibility will affect the value of art is something we will see over time. Nevertheless, I believe that originality will always be decisive. Although AI accelerates art production, the soul and depth of a work still depend on the artist’s vision. Within this transformation, I position myself as someone who leverages technology without losing the human touch. The evolving face of art gains meaning from the creator’s perspective, and my ongoing goal is to continue capturing this originality.

Interviewee: Balkan Karışman
@_karisman
_{Interview: Tevfik Hürkan Urhan
Translation: Tevfik Hürkan Urhan}

A Rebellion – Vaa

April 10, 2025Listen, Read, See21st century, buildings, experimental

Vaa, a music project, aims to blend atmospheric elements and poetry in sound, drawing inspiration from the style of plastic arts. In his tracks, where influences of hip-hop/rap, post-punk, and pop-punk can be heard, the lyrics portray the absurdity of the century we live in, making it a central theme in his music.

///

the most beautiful day of our lives

take my hand, through this hell walk beside me

let the sky turn upside down in defiance

let everything fall exactly where it must

a return ticket to my mother’s womb—let all things push me back to the heavens

paradise lies beneath the clouds

let the fire of desire consume the city

let the shepherds lead the wolves to graze

someone take the blame

let the water in your glass spill over

let the ocean rise

let the streets overflow with truth

let the clouds break into rain

let the calendar tell its tale

let history repeat itself

///

///

I can spot a madman on the street in a second
catch his scent from a kilometer away

sins I’ve confessed to no one
keep your mouth shut and steal every image in sight

cling to the thing that throws you into battle
just like you hug every tree you pass

be astonished by everything in this world
curse it anew every single day
then

dive straight into the love

dreams where I jump from the sky
only reason I survive
they’ll find me, no place to hide

I laid out my lines one by one
I speak what I see
there’s a rifle in my eyes

no box could ever fit my shape
to all their words, my ears escape

the flowers whose scent I breathed
their killer me, with memories intact

on a chair I sit, watching the minutes pass
everything in its place, rushing by fast

nothing belongs to me
if I weren’t free as a bird
my own hands would set my body on

fire

///

Through Identity

April 10, 2025Read, Seeidentity, painting, portrait

In his master’s thesis, “Portrait Art in the Context of Biopolitics,” painter Sinan Hasar conducted an in-depth exploration of the concept of identity, materializing this abstract subject through dozens of portraits. His lines seek the intersections between individual and collective identities, inviting the viewer to question their own sense of self. In this interview, we delve into the artist’s creative process, his thoughts on identity, and the stories behind his paintings.

Why did you choose to work on ID photos? Can you describe your intellectual and practical process?

I needed to establish a standard within my own production. When you paint, people naturally start sending selfies saying, “Draw me like this.” I’m not interested in painting the figure of someone taking a selfie behind the wheel of their new car! That’s why I decided to use ID photos. Passport photos are taken under the same rules worldwide. By narrowing the scope, I gave myself more freedom to paint as I wished without getting caught up in people’s fantasies.

Where does the story of this project originate?

As a student, I loved working on figures. I always carried a small watercolor set and a notebook in my pocket or bag. I would use people as models, quickly sketching and painting them. I started mass-producing portraits at the end of 2018 when I painted small portraits of my friends for New Year’s. After creating many quick portraits, I further narrowed my focus, limiting the color palette and concentrating more on expressions.

How does this project differ from your previous works?

I had to limit my imagery compared to before. I can even say that it transformed from a poetic expression into a holistic action. The human face can take on incredibly strange forms.

How was the process of reflecting on identity, writing a thesis on the subject, and painting portraits? How did the project take shape, and what were the milestones in your journey?

Writing a thesis requires a different kind of practice compared to painting, and I got to experience that firsthand. When I started working with Havva Altun, I was introduced to the concept of töz (essence). I learned a lot from her, and she was the one who encouraged me to continue and deepen my work with portraits.

The entire process took six years. A lot happened during that time. Our lives changed and transformed significantly. Naturally, every good or bad event left its mark on my work. My early paintings weren’t as intense, but over time, my brushstrokes sometimes became more brutal. The system itself is brutal. We live in a world with increasing surveillance, control, and enforcement. There are mechanisms that constantly monitor, regulate, and use force. These aspects are often presented as if they have positive sides, but their disturbing elements are undeniable. My project took shape in response to this reality. I saw it as an alternative form of action.

How did painting dozens of portraits affect your movement in painting? What was it like to be so immersed in faces?

Focusing on a single subject has both advantages and disadvantages. I got to know many of the people I painted much more closely. When trying to shape someone’s face, you may need to study it for hours. Doing this meant I had to put some other projects on hold. I can say that I’ve become more patient and composed. Now, I can better prioritize what I want to do.

How do you think this process will influence your future works? What changes will it bring to your art, and what are your next steps?

I hadn’t worked with oil paint for a long time. Compared to watercolor, oil painting offers more possibilities. I’ve started working on new paintings. For now, all I can say is that I will continue painting. I don’t know what will happen next either. I’m working on figures and spaces. I actually face the same challenges as every other painter—the only difference is that the content will be +21. We’ll see as I go.

Artist: Sinan Hasar

Interview: Nehir Akfırat

New Blood: NOESIS COLLECTIVE

April 10, 2025Read, Seecollective art, experimental, sub-culture

‘’The source of creative activities is shared, while their approaches and methods differ. Focusing on one or several of these is necessary for gaining expertise in a specific field and being able to express oneself. However, the time and effort required by this process may prevent individuals from experiencing other methods and approaches. Although the formation of social groups around these fields of interest and activity is of vital importance, over time, if these groups become rigid and impermeable, it can hinder richer social and creative interactions, causing each field to remain confined within its own echo chamber.

For someone with deep knowledge and experience in a particular method, genre, or area of interest, engaging with and experiencing productions in vastly different or even seemingly opposing fields has the potential to provide new insights. These insights can, in turn, lead to a deeper understanding of their own discipline.

In essence, all these different forms of production are merely varied human experiences stemming from the same source. Therefore, what is truly worthwhile is to bring these different experiences together by creating common spaces that do not discriminate based on genre or approach—spaces where the journey of producing and learning can be lived as directly as possible, without being overshadowed by external motives.’’

Noesis Collective was founded with these thoughts and aims as a non-profit initiative. The collective launched its activities with Noetic Noises Fest #1, held on December 13–15, 2024. The festival featured performances spanning electroacoustic free improvisation, acoustic folk, experimental hip-hop, death metal, progressive rock, black metal, ancient folk music, and cabaret rock, alongside painting, sculpture, and photography exhibitions.

The collective is currently working on its upcoming events and has also launched its website. Through this platform, it aims to share works in various fields—such as writing and visual arts—and, in the long run, to establish a comprehensive space for communication and collaboration among creators.

If you would like to submit your work for publication, you can contact the collective at info@noesiscollective.com.

The festival’s aim of fostering interaction among artists from different disciplines began to take concrete form when one of the works from Kıvanç Yılmaz‘s exhibition was used as a stage decoration for black metal artist Kralizec.

KARA EJDERHA / Noetic Noises Fest

AKDENİZ ERBAŞ / Noetic Noises Fest

DEAD GROAN / Noetic Noises Fest

ELİF YILDIZ / Noetic Noises Fest

SERİM TAĞAR KOÇ / Noetic Noises Fest

This Must Be The Place

April 10, 2025Read, Seeanthropology, cinema, Lea Drescher, migration, old age, research, short movie, visual anthropology

Lea Drescher

From 2017-2022, Lea Drescher worked at the Berlin-based film production company mîtosfilm, which produces and distributes Kurdish stories between the Middle East and Germany. She worked as Production Manager on ‘In The Blind Spot’ by Ayşe Polat that premiered at Berlinale 2023 and received the Bronze Award for Best Film at the German Film Awards 2024 and she coordinated the Kurdish Film Festival Berlin for several editions. In 2024, she completed the M.A. program in Visual Anthropology at the Media University in Berlin with ‘This Must Be The Place’, which is her first medium-length documentary film.

**‘This Must be the Place’ – somewhere between imagination and reality**
an anthropological film on the migration of Kyrgyz nurses to Germany

Missed the connecting flight to Bishkek.
I’m annoyed because there’s no internet at the airport and because the journey seems to take forever. I keep reading Chingiz Aitmatov’s book ‘Childhood in Kyrgyzstan’. It’s actually ridiculous to think of my journey as exhausting in relation to the distance I cover in the time and the comfort with which I travel; compared to the days-long marches through the Kyrgyz mountains of little Aitmatov in the book, when he carried banknotes from village to village. He walked for hours, for days, wading through cold waters. (…)
I am looking forward to seeing the mountains in Kyrgyzstan (…) The journey to Bishkek continues tonight at 8 p.m. and until then I am roaming around Istanbul in the sun, trying not to feel stressed. Suddenly the time in Bishkek seems far too short, the project overbearing, and at the same time irrelevant (…) What for? (apart from achieving a degree). Not knowing what’s ahead is giving me bad thoughts right now. Gözleme is ready.
field note, 05.04.2024, İstanbul, bistro

In spring 2024, I travel from Berlin, where I live, to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. I am researching the migration of nursing staff from Kyrgyzstan to Germany for my graduation film in Visual Anthropology. In Kyrgyzstan, I want to get to know participants of the EDUVISO program.

The company EDUVISO has been training young people as nurses for the German labour market in cooperation with medical colleges in Kyrgyzstan since 2019. The nurses are placed with employers in Saxony, eastern Germany. Care for the elderly is a particular focus. EDUVISO promotes participation in its program at high schools throughout the country.

So far, around a dozen nurses have been placed in Dresden and the nearby small town of Pirna. Hundreds more young people have joined the program. However, it is still unclear how many of them will actually migrate. It takes an enormous amount of motivation, perseverance and adaptability to go through all the steps as the process of becoming a fully recognized nursing professional in Germany takes many years and includes various exams. Passing the required German exams in particular proves to be a major challenge for many participants.

With the research in Kyrgyzstan, I want to get a closer look at how the young participants imagine their future, what challenges they face when preparing for migration and what drives them to leave their home country to work as a nurse in Germany. What perceptions of Germany do they have from afar?

A year before I leave for Bishkek, I am looking for a topic for my final project when my grandfather dies. For the first time in my life, I say goodbye to someone who is emotionally close to me. Shortly after, my grandmother moves into a retirement home. She can no longer look after herself and the family is scattered across Germany.

I visit her in her new home on a sunny afternoon. She seems in quite good spirits, shows me the sunflowers on the balcony, smiles about the lively life in the neighboring courtyard and tells me about a nurse from Cameroon who takes care of her. She says that many of the nurses working here come from abroad.

A few months later, my grandmother also dies. It seems that the absence of my grandfather, who she spent most of her life with side by side, weakened her body faster.

That is how I begin to research the topic of migration and care. People come to a new country with hopes and plans for their future and here, they care for people who look back on many years behind, and who are now dependent on the support of others.

Current statistics predict a shortage of up to 690,000 care workers in Germany by 2049. Recruiting nurses from abroad is one of the strategies for closing personnel gaps. According to an analysis by the Federal Employment Agency, the proportion of care workers with a foreign nationality almost doubled between 2017 and 2022.

People from economically weaker countries migrate to work in the care sector in economically stronger countries; this is a worldwide phenomenon of capitalism (global care chains). While overall more men cross borders to find work abroad, labor migration in the care sector is predominantly female.

“By ethnoscape, I mean the landscape of people who constitute the shifting world in which we live […] as more people and groups deal with the reality of having to move or the fantasy of wanting to move.”
Arjun Appadurai, Anthropologist, ‘Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy’, 1990: 7

When I learn that EDUVISO participants are being placed in the cities of Dresden and Pirna, I can’t help but instantly think of the increasing shift to the right. In the eastern German states, formerly the GDR, right-wing parties are getting a particularly large number of votes. However, the phenomenon of the increasing shift to the right is by no means limited to those areas. Right-wing and xenophobic attitudes are on the rise in society and politics across Germany, which was particularly visible in the 2025 federal elections.

Because I am concerned about this, but also want to understand the reasons for the increasing dissatisfaction and the associated shift to the right, I travel to Pirna and get into conversation with elderly people on the streets, in senior residences and with locals in a pub in the city center. I am especially interested in their concerns and wishes with regard to the care situation in Germany and the topic of immigration.

Lea: How do you imagine your life in Pirna?
S: A quiet life, not as hectic and rushed as here.
(…) I hope…I mean as you hear (laughs),
it’s really great in Germany, work is
easier there and makes you happy.

recording 08.04.2024, Bishkek

“The nursing home wasn’t as well equipped in GDR times, but it didn’t matter, people had a decent life there. They could help with the dishes in the kitchen,
do something… Nowadays… Do you know how old people are treated?
I said ‘anything but a nursing home’.”

recording, 02.07.2024, Pirna

In the documentary ‘This Must Be The Place’ (45 min), I interweave the perspective of Kyrgyz nurses preparing for migration, the perspective of senior citizens and pub guests from the small town of Pirna and my own perspective as a documentary filmmaker traveling between places.

To approach the complexity around the topic of migration and care work, I engage with a variety of voices and places that I encounter throughout my research journey. Rather than focusing on a single site, as would be the case with conventional fieldwork, I involve multiple sites of observation and participation. (multi-sited ethnography)

I see the film as a mosaic of impressions that poses questions rather than provides answers.

Lea: Where would you like to live when you’re old?

Student 1: In Kyrgyzstan, of course!

Student 2: I can’t say. Time will tell.

Student 3: (grinning) To be honest, in Germany. In some home for the elderly, so you don’t torture your children and grandchildren.
(some laugh)

recording, 28.04.2024, Bishkek, A2 German course

The EDUVISO participants I speak to have been learning German for several years and some have difficulties passing the exams. At the same time, the German language also plays a crucial role for me in the research process. Without the participants’ knowledge of German, verbal communication between us would not be possible for the time being; I speak neither Russian nor Kyrgyz. But I also realize how our verbal exchange is limited by language barriers. Overall, spending time together beyond interview set ups makes a significant contribution to my learning process. We get to know each other while they show me around places in the city, we visit the family in the village, take a trip to the mountains by car or listen to music.

_{When I arrived at the airport in Bishkek last night, T., S. and Z. (three EDUVISO participants) picked me up by car. We drove through the darkness to my apartment and they turned on various music: Kyrgyz music, English music and also the German pop song ‘Die immer lacht’ (translation: ‘The one who always laughs’ by Kerstin Ott.
field note, 07.04.2025, Bishkek}

Whereas the city of Pirna is also new to me, here, I approach people without getting to know each other before, spontaneously, which is possible through a shared language.

The town is situated in an idyllic location on the Elbe river, surrounded by hills. While my gaze kept falling on the mountains, animals and flowers while filming in Kyrgyzstan, I pay more attention to text and symbolism in Pirna, as I speak the language and am familiar with the socio-political context. Election posters and snippets of conversation from people passing by catch my attention.

I walk with G. and S. (*Kyrgyz nurses who just arrived in Pirna some weeks ago) towards the river. A few young people on bicycles pass by. One of the boys starts to sing “Deutschland den Deutschen, Ausländer raus” (“Foreigners out, Germany for the Germans”) to the beat of “L’amour toujours” by Gigi D’Agostino.

field note, 02.06.2024, Pirna

Over the course of six weeks, Bishkek became more familiar to me, and I kept returning to certain places. Especially where there are animals to watch; pigeons bathe in the almost dried-up riverbed, and one afternoon I observe small puppies and their mother in the bushes next to the water. The babies may have been born just a few days ago. Squirrels hop around people in the park.

Somehow, the presence of the animals makes me feel comfortable and relaxed as I try to engage with a new place and new people.

Later, in Pirna, I meet two of the nurses who have just arrived. After an interview, we watch the geese along the river and they remember the geese in Kyrgyzstan. Various people, old and young, seem to enjoy hanging out here among the cackling animals. For a short moment, it feels like a place can be shared by living beings regardless of language.

G: I have both feelings. Worried and happy and a little sad. Because soon I will fly to Germany and yes, I am afraid to start a new life in Germany. But I hope everything will be fine.

recording 08.04.2024, Bishkek

Lea Drescher
@dr.escha

Stories Without Borders: “Traveling Thoughts”

April 10, 2025Seemigration, refugee rights, right oof travel, sajad bayeqra, short movie

Sajad Bayeqra

^{Turkish and English subtitles are available.}

Sajad couldn’t visit Istanbul again because, even though he had documents proving his refugee status in Germany and a valid travel document, the Turkish Consulate did not issue him a visa. Consequently, no Turkish city appears in this film; however, that only prevented Sajad’s physical visit to Turkey—thoughts know no borders, and visas cannot be issued for them. Sajad decided to complete the series in our magazine by writing an essay on his time in Turkey.
Editor’s Note

After 18 hours of walking at night, I arrived in the city of Iğdır, Turkey. I stayed in Iğdır for only a week, but I saw nothing of the city because I was confined to a small, dark room provided by the smuggler. For the first three days, all I wanted to do was sleep, as ever since I had left Kabul, I had spent my time either walking, running, or traveling in the back of pickup trucks.

On the sixth day, the smuggler put us on a bus. It was a brand-new, luxurious bus with clean seats. After such a long journey, the moment I sat on those soft, clean seats, I fell asleep.

After six hours, the assistant driver woke everyone up and told us to get off the bus and eat at a nearby hotel. Having spent a month and a half surviving on bread and yogurt, I was thrilled by the aroma of kebabs coming from the hotel. After enjoying a delicious meal, we got back on the bus. However, this time, they made me sit in the aisle, saying that my turn for a seat had ended. If I wanted to sit properly again, I had to pay 100 lira—but I had already spent all my money on kebabs.

Around 8 PM, we arrived at Esenler Bus Terminal in Istanbul. For the first time, I saw beautiful women with elegant figures, their legs visible beneath short skirts. I had only ever seen such sights on television before.

In the vast city of Istanbul, I had to find a new smuggler to take me to Europe. After some calls to friends in Kabul, I was put in touch with an uncle of one of them, who was a smuggler. I went to his house, where I was once again placed in a small room with ten other Afghan migrants. But this time, I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t tired anymore. It was as if I had never taken a long journey at all. I just wanted to go outside and explore the beautiful city of Istanbul—a city filled with the sound of seagulls and taxi horns, like Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, but played in the rhythm of seagulls and honking cabs.

The next day, as I prepared to leave the smuggler’s house to explore the city, one of the Afghan boys warned me, “Don’t make that mistake. If the police catch you, they’ll deport you back to Afghanistan.”

Hearing that, fear gripped me. I thought to myself: “You idiot, you didn’t come here for fun and sightseeing. You came to reach Europe.”

Four days later, I got on another smuggler’s bus, heading toward Izmir, where I planned to take a boat to Europe.

I have been a migrant since I was four years old, always afraid of the police and borders. I never had a stable home or school; I was always on the run.

When I finally got my own small room in Berlin in 2019, I spent two years living in constant fear that I would have to leave—that this place wasn’t really mine.

Sajad Bayeqra

How Allah, AI & I Made A Comic Book This Summer

December 15, 2022Read, Seecomic book, midjourney, yiğitcan erdoğan

So this summer, I made a comic book with Allah and the AI. Let me explain.

Allah is the Arabic word for god, but because of the way the Islamic faith is structured; it’s most often used in reference to the one true God of the Abrahamic religions, rather than referring to any other deity of any other belief system like the word god does in English. Allah, aside from being the creator of all life and the known universe; is also the author of Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. This is significant. Muslims believe that the words in the Qur’an are the words of Allah itself.

When you read the book, you can see how that works out. Allah talks in the first person plural for most of the time, describing in detail what their wishes are and what they expect from their followers. Allah also takes direct credit for all the Abrahamic belief system, whether it be Judaism or the pre-Islamic Hanifism. The book is very clear: All the prophets from Moses to Joseph worshipped the same god, tried to spread the same set of instructions but the message got corrupted by the greed and frailty of men. So the Qur’an is the final book. Mohammed is the final Abrahamic prophet. Allah has spoken its final word.

So. I made a comic book with Allah and the AI. Once again, let me explain.

Midjourney is an artificial intelligence program that creates images from textual descriptions, which is a fancy way of saying that it’s a robot who turns words into images. It’s not too dissimilar to other text-to-image AI programs like Stable Diffusion or DALL-E in its functionality: You give the robot a prompt, robot parses that prompt and generates an image based on the dataset it’s using. Where Midjourney feels different is how it seems to be able to convey the sense of emotion. The prompts you give to Midjourney turn into seemingly more touching images, in seemingly purposeful color-generation and seemingly deliberate compositional choices. Where other text-to-image AI programs seek to turn the words into images in a more representational manner; Midjourney is also comfortable dealing in the abstract. You don’t just have to ask the robot to make you a picture of Napoleon Bonaparte riding a shark through lava, you can also just ask the robot to make you a picture of that dread you feel after an uncertain breakup. Ask the robot to paint an idiom. Feed the robot some lines from your favorite poem.

Or give it the words of Allah.

So. This summer. Me, Allah and the AI. We made a comic book.

I was sitting on my balcony in Leipzig when I suddenly decided to read the Qur’an. I was reading about the representation of other prophets in the Qur’an, you see; and I found out that there was a whole surah, or chapter named after Mary, mother of Jesus; talking about not only Mary and Jesus but also about Moses and Joseph and Jacob and Isaac and Ishmael and Adam and Zecheriah and Noah; so in essence, all the Abrahamic protagonists. With an excitement not unlike the one I feel when I’m about to watch a superhero movie where characters from other movies get together, I started to read.

Then as I read I wondered, what would the robot make of this?

Here’s what I did: I compared and contrasted passable English translations of the Qur’an. I collected the ayet, or the verses of the surah Mary dealing with the birth of Jesus. I then fed those verses to the robot. Midjourney gives you four options with each prompt and can further work on an option should you choose to. So I curated the images accordingly. Then finally, I found a comic-book looking free font on Dafont, and put the corresponding ayah on the image the robot made of it and placed the images as if they were panels of a comic book.

So. Words by Allah. Art by the AI. Edited by a human being. Allah, AI and I made a comic book together.

Here’s the final result. Hope you enjoy it.

Author: Yiğitcan Erdoğan

instagram: @beggarandchooser

Doğu Topaçlıoğlu // Appropriation

December 15, 2022Listen, Read, Seeinstallation, movement, sensorial

Doğu Topaçlıoğlu’s exhibition ‘’Appropriation’’ will be held in Ka between 15-22 February. The exhibition consists of sonic arrangements and aims to present an alternative perception of plasticity. The artist works on the sound’s ability to make objective and situational changes in ontological state of the object; while creating relations between psycho-acoustic possibilities, sculpture and drawing.

Doğu was born in 1989 to an avid reader mother and a painter father. Until 7 years old, he spent considerable time together with his grandmother. During this time, he used to collect dirt from the street to bring home and hid under the carpet. He collected rain drops in his mouth. He moved the paintings on his grandmother’s walls and scratched the wall behind them. Later he would describe this naive journey as a natural occurrence of automated behavior, a type of behavior one would develop when trying to perceive life as it is. It appears that the elements of the house he was born in, the dirt under the carpet, together with the scent of paint and thinner steered him towards his journey, although did not pick the direction. Graduating from Ankara Anatolian High School Of Fine Arts and entering Hacettepe University Department Of Sculpture were only two stops on this long journey; separated by time, united in direction. Doğu is chasing after a feeling, a thrill; which he doesn’t and doesn’t want to put an end to it. This is why he doesn’t seem to separate his life from his art. The way he is searching for himself, and the way he can’t seem to catch the speed of his own mind; reminds me of a saying I heard in an African narrative:

“We are going fast, and our souls are staying behind.”

Doğu likes to share the excitement of the process of not knowing what his next piece or material will be. To understand his works, one should consider the concepts of timelessness and sense of anachronism. Just like how he tried to understand what does inside, outside and their borders mean at an early age; he is now observing the objects, events, sounds, notion and intersections with the same excitement and curiosity. He is finding his own mutual reflexes under these environments and conditions; resulting in his own language. As if Doğu had designed a machine and any input that goes in, goes out translated in his language. As if one might put a musical note into that machine and Doğu would listen it enough so that the note would start to come out, harboring all other notes. His interaction with music often transitions into the environment. Doğu doesn’t see much of a border in between. When he is composing; he often drifts from the original idea and discovers countless new patterns, only to be turned back to the original idea. He sees this journey as a must to go back to the point of origin.

This biography came out as a transformative idea to accompany his evolving journey. Instead of listing the events of his life linearly, I offered to capture a few pieces from the time that brought him here. I wanted to leave the reader a space to play with, so they can be a part of this writing. This writing is avoiding the concrete, it is unsure, and it is still on a journey searching for itself. It will be written once more together in separate times with every reader and will never be complete.

Written by Berkay Kahvecioğlu

From Line to Dimension // Tolga Ateş

December 15, 2022Read, See3D, digital art, modelling, motion graphics

Hello Tolga, first of all, do you have a name for the work you do? Did you put names to them?

These are the products of my perspective, which can be called the expression of my mood when I sit to work on my computer at that moment.

You usually work with abstract ideas, what inspires you?

In general, what I think about doing, producing, is about what is happening in life, or changes that are happening in the environment, rather than my own life. I mean, I filter, what life throws at me, through my filter. Nature, history, other works, architecture, technology, in short, the visual data I encounter in life inspire me. I have been interested in visuals since childhood, in fact, this situation started with photography, evolved into cinema over time, after studying cinema and television, I realized that it did not allow me to express myself the way I wanted, and finally I met 3D, and I found sort of a freedom that I seeked. Light, angle, color I was excited to be able to adjust every conceivable variable as I wanted and I started to deepen in this area.

The biggest point is doing the work from the computer. Are there various programs to do this work? Or are you using a specific program?

These are technologies that are developing every day. There is no end to learning a program, in fact, several programs can be used for many different aspects of the work. Many people also use more than one program. If you are looking for an alternative style, it is useful to use more than one program.

https://vimeo.com/779273121

Do you use more than one program in the same project?

Yes. I think that Maya, Blender and Houidini are useful programs, these are the first ones that come to mind. I mainly use Maya, After Effects and Premier are also involved, or if I’m doing an audio reactive work, I use Resolume. I usually use more than one program. I started this journey with Maya, with courses from the Internet, and of course I also learned on my own. But as I said, there is no end, the deeper you go, the deeper it gets. My learning process is not over either. In fact, production is developing as you produce. I think the main point is to discover what to produce with the inputs we get after learning to use a program. I am also at this interrogation point, in fact, I want to explore my own style and deepen in it. It’s a playground for me. I have been doing this work for two years and many artists I have been inspired by have been instrumental in starting the process. Most of the work I do is also related to music, the fact that music is a texture in my work also allows me to decipher a different depth in the work I produce. When music is combined with visual elements, very striking results come out. That I’m after. I really like to appeal to different senses. These feelings and the combination of these elements stand out in the work we have done together with Her Absence Fill the World. In other words, the music I listen to, the images engraved in my mind, the whole of what I see and feel while doing the work constitute the essence of the work.

You mentioned Her Absence Fill the World, the work you did was very appreciated. How was that, how did it make you feel?

When they said that they wanted to make a music video for their song, I got excited, it was a pleasure to work together with Kubi and Sascha. I liked the song very much at first, ideas started to come to my mind immediately. They also had a lot of ideas, but they gave me a nice space to put forward what I had in my head, and it was also really nice. So I was able to convey my feelings, of course, there were also items that they specifically wanted, for example, the green door. What they wanted and my feelings came together, and this beautiful work came out. On top of that, we carried out the entire process from our computers, they from Berlin, and I, from Ankara. We have taken the process from the beginning many times, my computer has changed, improved, as a result, we have started to get more beautiful and realistic textures. The whole process was like an adventure. It was also pleasant to watch the process develop and change in itself. There were very nice reactions, it was my first music video experience, the whole process and the aftermath were very enjoyable. This work has given me a lot of inspiration, it has also been an inspiration for me to look into more works like this.

What are you working on these days?

These days, I am working on a project where I aim to produce audio reactive visuals by combining them with the audio files I have produced. On the other hand, I have started to produce short loops in motion graphics. I will soon start sharing my works in this field under a different name. Apart from all these, I still continue to learn, at the same time, I would like to thank DolmuşXpress and everyone who contributed. We had a lot of fun, I hope all readers will share the same pleasure with us.

Tolga Ateş

Interview: Yigitcan Erdoğan, Ilgın Nehir Akfırat

Translation from Turkish Original: Ilgın Nehir Akfırat