Artistic Transformation of Thread: ‘Morfoz’
The thread work named ‘Morfoz’ which made at IGM 2022- Istanbul 27th International Garment Machinery, Spare Parts and Sub-Industry Exhibition held at Tüyap Fair and Congress Center between 8-11 September, was a frequent destination for visitors during the exhibition. We interviewed with Özgür Özcan, the architect of the art work, for our Tekstil Teknoloji magazine.
First of all, can you tell us about yourself? In which field do you work?
I graduated from the Architecture department in 1997, Istanbul Technical University (ITU). In 2005, I completed my master’s degree in the same department. I carried out various projects related to my profession until 2018. I met string art about 7 years ago. When I met this art, I was designing and implementing stands. After learning that this technique, which I started to be interested in as a hobby, is used in the field of education, I started to give education as an elective course in schools. Schools provided the first opportunity for me to turn this art from being a hobby into a profession for me. After carrying out two jobs together for the first 3 years, I left the subject of the exhibition completely and turned to rope art because it was stressful and tiring.
Can you tell us about your work called ‘Morfoz’ that you have done with the support of Durak Tekstil at the IGM 2022? First of all, what was the purpose and message of this art work?
The simplest recipe for string art is to paint and sculpt by using thread. The main material of the art I work on is thread. Durak Tekstil found me thanks to my social media posts. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the company, they made a proposal to work together to create an impressive and resounding work of art by using their own products. For about 3-4 months, we worked on the design with Durak Tekstil for the work called ‘Morfoz’. After deciding on the design, we had meetings with the exhibition organizers. The our aim was to exhibit the product variety in a more striking and interesting way, using art, to create a focal point for the exhibition and add visual value. I think we have accomplished this to a great extent. Durak Tekstil and Teknik Fairs contributed greatly to the realization of the project.
Özgür Özcan, String Art Artist
In how many hours and with how many people did you complete the work?
The design phase took ( maintained) 4 months. After the decisions were made, when we started production, the preliminary preparation and manufacturing took about 10 days, and the on-site application of the threads took 5 days. We worked with a team of 3 people for approximately 74 hours to apply the threads to the construction. The praise of those who came to wonder and watched us while we were working made us forget all the tiredness of working 14-15 hours a day.
How many meters of threads did you use, could you give information about the thread color variety and the thread type used?
We used polyester-based embroidery threads from Durak Tekstil’s polysoft series with triobal cross-section because they have a vivid and brightness. This Project; It has a dimension of 3.00 m x 3.00 m x 3.00 m. In a volume of 27 m3, embroidery threads of 97 different colors and approximately 49.000 m of thread were woven, by looping. During the design phase, we chose the most vivid colors from the color charts and arranged and used these colors to form a homogeneous color spectrum.
Could you share with us your views on your cooperation with Durak Tekstil?
Durak Tekstil is a company that has projects on many subjects such as R&D, environmental awareness and art. Beyond using these issues as a slogan, it is an experienced and well-established company that invests in these issues and develops products, is open to innovations. All his teammates, especially Yiğit Durak, who is the company’s Marketing Director and the 3rd Generation representative of the family, put a lot of effort into the realization of the project and supported it at every stage.
When we consider all the employees, exhibitors and visitors involved in the realization of the exhibition we are talking about an activity that consumes a tremendous amount of time, effort and labor.
The return of this investment can only be achieved by reaching more people. Every individual who visits the fair, takes photographs in front of this work, shares it with their relatives, announces and makes news, serves this purpose by carrying the effect of the exhibition outside the fairgrounds.
Will your similar art work continue?
Of course we have new projects. The name of this art work is ‘Morfoz’; It means change and metamorphosis. The art work consists of the changing of colors in a certain order, the shape forming curvilinear surfaces, forming 4 different masses without touching each other, and the movement within the cube-shaped volume. In fact, the gradual change of the image as you turn around the art work offers different visuals from different angles.
The only thing that doesn’t change is change itself. We applied the same design in different sizes a total of 4 times. We have developed it by adding innovations every time. Although it is sad, technically it was not possible to transport a work of this size by land. After the exhibition, we cut the threads and demounted their profiles and disassembled them after the exhibition. We are planning to produce new works based on the concept of ‘Metamorphosis’ by mixing the threads we unravel with a resin, both for Durak Tekstil’s sincerity and realism in terms of “environmental sensitivity” and for the continuity of change and metamorphosis.
