Hussein Chalayan: The Absent Presence

In his conceptual works he uses film, installation and sculptural forms to explore perception and the realities of modern life. We can discern different layers of narration, with strong implications to his autobiography as a Turkish Cypriot and as a nomad between worlds. Chalayan´s multi-layered narratives are molded into neo-mythological, futuristic visual rituals. In this project he deals with the tantalizing issue of identity as DNA and its reflection in the geopolitical environment. He opens the arguments on how certain identities can or cannot adapt to new environments and generates a research based narration for this cross-disciplined installation with filmic images and sculpture. There is a serious scientific and theoretical research behind the end product presented to the audience. The film displays the interplay of the real and the imagined with a series of collected clothes and digitally deformed crystallized garments. A DNA extraction process from the clothes collected from among immigrants in London, an anthropological evaluation of this material, and a 3D manipulation all treated through the London sound-scape intricately reveals the approach to Chalayan to the ubiquitous dilemma of identity.

The Absent Presence is an enigmatic story based on identity, geography, genetics, biology and anthropology. He opens the argument on how certain identities can or can not adapt to new environments and generates a research based narration for his cross-disciplined installation with filmic images and sculptures.

www.husseinchalayan.com

Hussein Chalayan
The Absent Presence