Installation with 2-channel video 6:40 min, 4 carpets 200x200cm, wood sculptures and glass dimensions variable, 2019
In The Future of the Me-nemen-Mory, Suat Öğüt’s work invites us to uncover the hidden, silent and forgotten places of Amsterdam. The everyday city-dweller would usually not encounter the four hidden buildings that Öğüt has chosen to work with. Together the buildings evoke a tale of the city’s continuing expansion and development from the last century to today. Limited space and ideological considerations incited the construction of places that are somehow hidden from street life. The Future of the Me-nemen-Mory uncovers these histories and memories, and thus sheds light on the multiple layers of Amsterdam.
By using food as a social metaphor, Öğüt brings together the familiar and the (un)familiar. For those who already know menemen, the crisp white space will be an unusual setting. As for the ones who get the chance to experience the chairs and the architectural setting, the smell, the cooking, and the resulting dish will be unusual layers of the overall experience. The two components of the installation, cum menemen production centre connect us to the educational centres of Amsterdam. The chairs are memory triggers, just as the taste of menemen can be reminiscent of memories of the past.
The Future of the Me-nemen-Mory brings together different geographical and time zones. As Öğüt compiles metaphorically as well as literally the past, the present and the future in both a domestic and (non)domestic setting, he creates a new authentic space with no previous memory of menemen. He takes hold of an opportune moment and creates fresh experiences and memories.
In the exhibition, Öğüt shows multiple media in his installation echoing the architectural specificities of the buildings through videos, carpets, tables, chairs and food. Menemen will be served during the exhibition.
