Klik hier voor Nederlands
How do artists and cultural practitioners deal with their fragile economic position in the artworld? And how does this state of constant precariousness affect their prospects, plans for the future, and relationships with others? These questions are central to the interdisciplinary practice of Gizem Üstüner. Her long-term research project Low-Budget Projects (2023-ongoing) explores the everyday survival strategies artists develop to overcome the financial challenges of the artworld and continue to pursue their practice day in day out.
The banner at Prospects asks: ‘How do you afford to be in this loop?’ This provocative introduction is a question the artist often raises when she first meets a fellow artist, and one that invariably leads to a lively exchange.
By bringing the vulnerable stories behind individual and collective art practices out into the open, the artist aims to question systemic injustice and encourage solidarity in the cultural field. She organizes informal meetings to which she invites fellow artists to have conversation about their survival strategies and to exchange knowledge. The manifestations of Low-Budget Projects often evolve out of collaborations and can take on various shapes: apart from textile works with confrontational slogans, the artist also develops audio works and publications. By asking pointed questions and staging interventions, her work celebrates the resilience and perseverance of artists with fragile conditions. At the same time, she invites others who work in the cultural field to ask these critical questions more often and more deliberately.
Text: Esmee Postma
Translated from Dutch by Marie Louise Schoondergang (The Art of Translation)