Keep Dreaming, Never Stop
the Turkish Art Rock of Gaye Su Akyol
Questing for Freedom, Holding onto Absence
Working in a country where the oppression of free expression is standard operating procedure, Su Akyol’s music seems like a post-1984 coping mechanism, where only in fantasy can freedom be truly felt. Or, as her artist statement puts it: “We need to create a counter reality in order to challenge organized evil and the horrible reality it creates, and the strongest option here is ‘consistent dreaming.’” The album deploys cagey metaphors to mask greater critiques, but a powerful line from “Halimiz İtten Beter” shifts from the language of hope and dreams and instead gives voice to those too-real moments of desolation: “I gave up on existence and held on to absence.” (Pitchfork)
Call it Turkish art rock if you like
“I look for passion in music, lyrics, feelings, people, conversations. There can be no limbo, in between,” Akyol insists. “Passion talks with its very self-assured way to change something or convince someone. I believe we live in a hologram and art is my universe, so I organise the galaxies, planets, solar systems.” And in Gaye Su Akyol’s universe, the past becomes folded into the present and launched into the future. Hologram Ĭmparatorluğu is heady, powerfully intoxicating and beautifully dangerous. “Your art is something you have to find yourself,” Akyol says. “I’m looking inside my consciousness to my culture. I love rock but there are hidden things in my subconscious. Call it Turkish art rock if you like.”
My superpower as a child was dreaming (almost like the other children) and although I nearly forgot it for a while, I remembered my real power eventually. There is nothing as spectacular and beautiful as a free mind… As soon as I realized that the only difference between dreams and reality was “consistency” in my mind, the universe became a better place. This is where this album is coming from.
Artwork: Gaye Su Akyol
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Artwork: Gaye Su Akyol
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Open Horizons Appreciatioin
Jay McDaniel
The art of Gaye Su Akyol has multiple media: music, photographs, costumes, masks, tradition, dance, fantasy, grunge. Within it you hear and see a yearning, a quest, for freedom from the madness of a violent world and authoritarian rule. and a quest for the freedom for self-creativity in a possible world. The word "justice" cannot quite carry the hope. It is a hope for joy while facing the shadow side of life.
The quest is not a mere means to an end. It contains the self-creativity it hopes for, combined with a sense of mystery. Recall the spiritual alphabet we use in Open Horizons, taken from Spirituality and Practice. The world needs people, artists, who can bring forth as many letters of the alphabet as they can, through art and action. They become our teachers in a way, and we become theirs as well, in our very listening and learning from them, and in our own self-creations from the many influences that shape our lives. As Whitehead puts it, the many become one and are increased by one. Witness the increase, not simply of one but of many in the art of Gaye Su Akyol. And then, of course, create your own.
attention - beauty - being present - compassion - connections - devotion - enthusiasm - faith
forgiveness - grace - gratitude - hope - hospitality - imagination - joy - justice - kindness - listening
love - meaning - nurturing - openness - peace - play - questing - reverence - shadow - silence
teachers - transformation - unity - vision - wonder - x, the mystery - yearning - you - zeal
The quest is not a mere means to an end. It contains the self-creativity it hopes for, combined with a sense of mystery. Recall the spiritual alphabet we use in Open Horizons, taken from Spirituality and Practice. The world needs people, artists, who can bring forth as many letters of the alphabet as they can, through art and action. They become our teachers in a way, and we become theirs as well, in our very listening and learning from them, and in our own self-creations from the many influences that shape our lives. As Whitehead puts it, the many become one and are increased by one. Witness the increase, not simply of one but of many in the art of Gaye Su Akyol. And then, of course, create your own.
attention - beauty - being present - compassion - connections - devotion - enthusiasm - faith
forgiveness - grace - gratitude - hope - hospitality - imagination - joy - justice - kindness - listening
love - meaning - nurturing - openness - peace - play - questing - reverence - shadow - silence
teachers - transformation - unity - vision - wonder - x, the mystery - yearning - you - zeal
Photo: Gaya Su Akyol from Facebook
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Photo: Gaya Su Akyol from Facebook
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"Consistent Dreaming" as the practice of creating an alternate reality in a world of organized evil
The materialist world view attributes supreme meanings and values to the confirmable, accumulated world that it calls “real,” while almost ignoring the enormous power, amazing nature and value of dreams. My superpower as a child was dreaming (almost like the other children) and although I nearly forgot it for a while, I remembered my real power eventually. There is nothing as spectacular and beautiful as a free mind… As soon as I realized that the only difference between dreams and reality was “consistency” in my mind, the universe became a better place. This is where this album is coming from.
On the cover of the album, there is a “fantasy world” that promises whatever you fantasize constantly becomes your reality. We designed a "non-existent creature in any culture” with a majestic, glittered body and with a holy light on its head that symbolizes that the dreams of the individual are one’s holy key to open the new chapters in life.