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Lot Essay
'This is an abstract video, a ballet of forms that are in part mechanical, inpart organic. There is no narrative in this piece. It is about the relationship between an element of nature and the very nature of that element as well as the relationship between an individual and its society' (H. Akakçe quoted on the certificate for the present lot).
Haluk Akakçe's work investigates the intersections between contemporary society and technology through video animations, sound installations and wall paintings. Blue and Black on White is an abstract video which fuses forms that are part mechanical, part organic. Working mostly at night in his studio in SoHo, New York, Akakçe's video work combines painting, sculpture, architecture and sound in mesmerizing sequences of art historical and futuristic references.
Born in 1970, Haluk Akakçe grew up in Ankara, Turkey. Having initially trained as an architect Akakçe later studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Royal College of Art, London and his work has been included in the Istanbul and Sao Paulo Biennials. In November 2006, Akakçe's The Sky is the Limit video installation animated 12.5 million LEDs across an enormous canopy in Las Vegas. At 8pm each evening Fremont Street was plunged into darkness while the artist's animation gradually trickled across the sky. Discussing his practice the artist has explained, 'Everything starts with drawing It's like theatre. It starts with an idea in mind. Abstract, usually. Then it's like casting; I create the characters. I draw them one by one Then I'm like a director. I do storyboards. They show relationships, the scales And then we animate.' (H. Akakçe, quoted in C. Lauer, Canvas, November/December2009).
Haluk Akakçe's work investigates the intersections between contemporary society and technology through video animations, sound installations and wall paintings. Blue and Black on White is an abstract video which fuses forms that are part mechanical, part organic. Working mostly at night in his studio in SoHo, New York, Akakçe's video work combines painting, sculpture, architecture and sound in mesmerizing sequences of art historical and futuristic references.
Born in 1970, Haluk Akakçe grew up in Ankara, Turkey. Having initially trained as an architect Akakçe later studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Royal College of Art, London and his work has been included in the Istanbul and Sao Paulo Biennials. In November 2006, Akakçe's The Sky is the Limit video installation animated 12.5 million LEDs across an enormous canopy in Las Vegas. At 8pm each evening Fremont Street was plunged into darkness while the artist's animation gradually trickled across the sky. Discussing his practice the artist has explained, 'Everything starts with drawing It's like theatre. It starts with an idea in mind. Abstract, usually. Then it's like casting; I create the characters. I draw them one by one Then I'm like a director. I do storyboards. They show relationships, the scales And then we animate.' (H. Akakçe, quoted in C. Lauer, Canvas, November/December2009).