Frenk Bey, Fortress & the Thing

Frenk Bey, Fortress & the Thing
Author: Hasan Aksaygın
Publisher: NiMAC
Language: English
Pages: 83
Size: 15 x 21 cm
Weight: 190 g
Binding: Softcover
ISBN: 9789925610006
Availability: In stock
Price: €12.00
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Product Description

The book was published in the framework of Hasan Aksaygın’s solo presentation that dealt with the history of Cyprus when it was under the dominion of the British Empire via a para-fictional narrative. As the exhibition was held at Nicosia’s Old Electric Powerhouse (Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre - NiMAC), the history of electricity in colonial Cyprus was the focus of his show. The foundation of his project marks the time of an explosion at the Nicosia Old Powerhouse in 1947 due to neglect caused by problematic power relations between the colonial British Government of Cyprus, the Nicosia Municipality, and the private electric company owned by the elite that was providing electricity for the city at the time. Focusing his research on the causes and effects of this incident, Hasan used the information extracted from various archival, historical, and academic materials to create a speculative visual and textual narrative that can describe Neo-Gothic storytelling or a remake of the Gothic tale Frankenstein.

Hasan Aksaygın was born in 1986 in Nicosia, Cyprus, and is a painter who lives and works between Berlin and Nicosia. His focus of work has founded on the exploration of (post-)memory through examining the historically charged political disputes in and around Cyprus, the myths around gendered bodies constituted within the occidental fantasylands of orientalism, philhellenism, or in the intersections of both, and how they keep perpetuated in the contemporary visual culture. Aksaygın’s research-based and conceptual visual art practice consists of wooden panels, site-specific wall paintings, supporting sculptural objects, and short stories.