Başak Gürbüz Bilsel graduated from Istanbul Istanbul Bilgi University Management of Performing Arts in 2005. In 2020 - after her organizational, NGO, and design agency experiences, she got accepted to the Akbank Art and Open Dialogue Istanbul joint Curating Contemporary Art training program. She loves nature, animals, music and wants to focus on art critisim/writings and produce projects that blend art and meditation.
But what determines the actors of this order that people have become oblivious to As we stand within this circle, equipped with the knowledge that we should not cross it, is there a way to come eye to eye with the one who drew the circle?
Every stage of human history is full of decision makers, rule setters, that is, those who determine the different circles that a vast majority is circumscribed in. Starting from the family and expanding outwards, the metaphorical place that these circles point to is authority. In his book “Authority”, Richard Sennett underlines that authority is actually a basic need for us all. Sennett describes authority as the need of being guided for children, and for adults, an essential requirement that complements their being, and he goes on to say: And our need for authority as such remains. Desires for guidance, security, and stability do not disappear when they are unsatisfied.
The fire of authority comes from power and the prerogative of using that power. When power and authority come together, sanctions, impositions, manifestations of the “absolute truth” and the motive of asserting oneself increases. This sense of entitlement can become so blinding that it can have devastating and irreversible consequences. And the world is suffering these afflictions.
At this point, the matter of overstepping the bounds can be seen as a warning, augmented with an exclamation mark at the end, addressed to all actors of the order. The severity of the warning varies according to the exposed and the exposing party. And all of the great transformations, with all their positive and negative implications, have been shaped by the severity of this warning. When authority roars, “Who are you!” in a loud voice, sometimes the same questioning is directed back at it with an increase in intensity. Thus, the questioner changes hands. Sometimes, the way to stop the destructive effects of an overstepping authority is only possible with the courage to “overstep the predetermined bounds”. Sometimes it is this voice that reminds us where to stop.
As long as our needs for stability, security and guidance, as Sennett points out, are externally dependent, the circles and the afflictions they bring will continue to exist. However, can individual awakening and introspection lead to a reconsideration of these needs, to the strengthening of the collective mind, and perhaps to the development of a new “decision maker” understanding? Could it be that the best way to go beyond the imposed, to be aware of boundlessness and to know the ultimate “bounds” is to look inward, much further and deeper?
One of the most important Buddhist mantras used during meditation, Om Mani Padme Hum, that is, the Jewel in the Lotus Flower, invites us to connect with the authority within. The answer of the gentle and powerful question “Who are you?” seems to be hidden inside this jewel. The exhibition also proposes to retreat to a meditative space, away from power, from authority and all the external voices of the world in order to answer this question, and to look at the matter from here, from an area of new potentials. For this reason, complemented with meditation activities, the exhibition aims to broaden the participants’ experience of questioning.
The exhibition, Overstepping the Bounds, remains far from being an authority, it merely attempts to create a space of observation and focus. As it directs the light from the outside towards the inside, it wanders among the different meanings of authority.