"Speculative Space" exhibition by H. Avni Öztopçu, Mimar Sinan
University, Osman Hamdi Hall, Istanbul, 1989
SPECULATIVE SPACE
H. Avni Öztopçu,
1989
“An in-depth theoretical essay by H.
Avni Öztopçu, exploring the philosophical dimensions of artistic
space”
PREFACE
This work is an explanatory endeavor highlighting
the relationship between my artistic approach and
speculative space. While
books, writings, and oral explanations have informed the formal
aspects of this study, what truly shapes it—what grants it
compositional integrity—are the paintings I have created and the
ideas that guided their formation, preserved intact to this day.
I owe my deepest gratitude to all my teachers who
have contributed to my education thus far, and especially to Prof.
Dinçer Erimez, my advisor and mentor in the Proficiency Program in
Art.
H. Avni Öztopçu
April 12, 1989 · Çiftehavuzlar, Istanbul
INTRODUCTION
“I engage with the problem of objectifying—that
is, giving form to—the intellectually constructed abstract world,
using the uniquely human faculty capable of objectifying everything.”¹
The present work will unpack that declaration and
embark upon a formal exposition of my paintings.
“Every psychic (conscious) event contains
something as an object, each in its own way. In imagination
something is brought into existence; in judgment something is
affirmed or denied; in love something is embraced; in hatred
something is loathed; in desire something is pursued.”²
Consciousness is always consciousness
of something: without
“something” to see, I cannot see; without “something” to think, I
cannot think. Crucially, the object our awareness connects with need
not exist.³
THE ABSTRACT WORLD
The element that the intellectual realm I
conceive connects with beyond our conscious awareness does not
remain confined to the universal. This realm—brought into existence
through an act of conceptual construction and realized within the
boundaries of subjectivity—manifests itself in abstract form.
W. Worringer, examining abstract art’s
psychological foundations, argues that the psychic conditions giving
rise to the impulse to abstract—and thus the abstract art style—“must
be sought in the cosmic feeling, in the spiritual attitude toward
the universe, as held by the peoples among whom this style
flourishes.”⁴
That psychic factor is the sensation of “unease”
and a “profound spiritual fear of boundless space” experienced “in
the face of the limitless, contextless, and complex events of the
external world.”⁵ Worringer locates the birth of abstract art in
humanity’s fundamental need for security and peace. Whether
primitive or civilized, humans seek tranquility; abstract art
emerges to satisfy that need.
Human history is marked by continual upheavals,
and alongside the biological changes of our species, shifts in modes
of thought and perception accompany humanity’s creative journey—bringing
with them the faculty of abstraction.
“The primal artistic impulse, within the
confusion and ambiguity of the world’s tableau, seeks pure
abstraction as the sole possibility of repose, and instinctively
creates geometric abstraction within itself. This geometric
abstraction constitutes the complete—and for humans the only
conceivable—expression of liberation from all temporality and
contingency shown by the world’s tableau.”⁶
Civilized Eastern peoples, whose instinct that
all existing things are relative resides above knowledge rather than
preceding it, feel a deep unease in the face of the world’s complex
context and varied appearances. Consequently, a great need for peace
seizes their souls. The happiness they seek in art is not to
surrender to external objects and derive pleasure through them, but
rather to free each object from arbitrariness and seeming
contingency—bringing it closer to abstract forms, immortalizing it,
and thereby finding refuge in the world of appearances. Their
strongest impulse was to extract objects from their natural context—the
infinite variations of existence—cleanse them of any arbitrariness,
make them necessary and immutable, and bring them nearer to absolute
values.⁷
Abstract art, once a mere instinct, has become a
product of knowledge. “Having fallen from the pride of knowing,
humankind recognized that ‘this visible world in which we live is
Maya⁸—a created illusion, impermanent, like a visual hallucination
or a dream, a phenomenon without its own substance, a veil
enveloping human consciousness, something about which saying it
exists or does not exist is simultaneously true and false.’”⁹
Thereafter, like primitive humans, we stand lost and helpless before
the world’s tableau.¹⁰
Now, the abstract impulse—born of knowledge—gives
rise to contemporary abstract art, while the artistic intention at
this epoch’s outset proclaims: “Art is not nature; art is the
processing of nature by the spirit that gives it form.”¹¹ This
nature is intellectual—it is the “meaning of nature,” the
conceptually constructed speculative abstract world.
SPACE AS OBJECT
In the constructed abstract realm, what conveys
the idea of artistic space? Does the lack of external, tangible
existence of the objects to which visibility connects thwart the
notion of space?
“Science teaches that time and space are nothing
but possibilities for ordering, positioning, and arranging things,
and that space and time independent of things cannot exist.”¹² Kant
determines that the concepts of time and space do not originate from
experience but from reason: “They are the conditions for perceiving
space and time. Apart from them, we can neither see space nor
perceive duration.” Hence, there is no object called time or object
called space.¹³
Speculative space—the reality created by the
artist—is formed by the arrangement, condition, and ordering of
elements like line, color, and plane within this intellectually
constructed abstract realm. This reality is not natural reality; it
is a new composition that cannot express itself as nature. It is the
composition of art.
Psychic activity, by its very orientation,
requires an object. Yet this object need not exist externally.¹⁴
Every psychic event contains something as an object; this
orientation is fulfilled by humanity’s unique capacity to objectify
everything. Max Scheler, noting that world‑conception exists only
among humans, writes that animals “cannot turn their ‘environment’
into a ‘world’ through distancing and naming... They live in ecstasy
within their environment.”¹⁵ This is because animals cannot
objectify their own bodies or movements. With the capacity to
objectify everything, humans achieve the remarkable feat of not only
expanding their environment and giving it worldly depth—making
things objects that resist vital impulses—but also objectifying
their own physiological and psychological structures and every
psychic event.¹⁶
EXPANSION OF CONTRASTS
“Man, never finding peace with the reality
surrounding him; full of desire to break and transcend the confines
of existence here and now—his ‘environment’ and even his own reality”—creates
space as a nonverbal domain of expression. This space, too, depends
on objects. In object‑dependent space, the notion of space is
conveyed by the visibility and perceptibility of objects: their
differences, their otherness, or—as I shall repeatedly stress—their
contrasts.
Contrast is defined as the effect of a
quantitative or qualitative opposition in sensory stimuli existing
side‑by‑side in space or time. Contrasts determine each other’s
existence; one exists only because the other exists.
When contrasts are weakened, they evoke lifeless,
soft sensations akin to fog; conversely, full movement between poles
fosters a sense of distance across all transitional points. In the
counter‑movement with its complement, repose is attained even as
activity focuses on the particular against the general and the few
against the many, functioning as a potent dynamism.
COLOR CONTRAST
By softening contrasts of hue and saturation, the
material entities can be described and highlighted through value
alone, resulting in a pronounced monochrome.
In my master’s thesis report I wrote, “In my
paintings, a strong light‑dark contrast is visible,” quoting Paul Klee:
“If the tonal dimension enlists a chromatic action to its aid, then
the picture is enriched by the dimension of warmth contrasts. The
union of the two dimensions gives birth to two directions in the
form of movement and counter‑movement.”¹⁸ That addition of color
quality provides the artist with the opportunity to express feelings
and thoughts powerfully.
According to the Munsell color system, three
forms of contrast emerge: hue contrast, value contrast, and
saturation contrast. In this study I employ all three. While strong
value contrast persisted, hue and saturation contrasts joined it,
shifting the active role from light‑value‑amid‑dark to dark‑value‑amid‑light.
In my most recent works, activity resides within abundant mid‑tones,
arranging dark and light accordingly.
Value contrasts proceeded in motion only to be
met by counter‑motions of hue and saturation contrasts. The addition
of hue and saturation alongside value brought new combinations of
thermal excitement to the otherwise monochromatic emphasis. Since
1986, the roles of hue and saturation contrasts (thermal excitement)
have evolved but grown in weight—eschewing a lifeless, gray harmony
unclear in fog. The artist can confer special meanings upon visual
forms by employing color contrast.
DETERMINACY — INDETERMINACY
The expansion of contrast toward its extremes and
my quest for clarity, precision, and solidity have drawn me closer
to a linear structure; my formal labor feeds that structure.
Each form has been compelled to appear in its
most characteristic manner. Although every fragment in my paintings
is tightly bound to the whole, they strive always to maintain
independence. This compels the viewer to see additively, moving from
part to part—a pursuit of unity through the composition of
independent elements.
Viewers who find certainty readily accessible
seek and enjoy solving more complex puzzles. In my paintings
determinacy remains in the visibility of forms; when viewed as a
whole, there is an indeterminacy in meaning. The aim is not to
create an ever‑harder riddle but to ensure that an indeterminate
aspect persists—assigned not to individual forms but to the
composition’s overall significance. Across the entire composition,
there is nothing with which meaning inherently connects—nor need
there be. Determinacy emerges through expanded contrast; forms may
be purely intellectual even as nature appears fragmented. In
compositions where both states coexist, the connection lies in
thought.
MOTIFS / ORNAMENTS
“Geometric—or conversely free—forms, draped in
colors that convey an artifice, sometimes take on the guise of
coarse ornamentation, set within a space that appears limitless and
undetermined. This is the cosmic space in which stars move—so far
beyond our accustomed experience that it appears to us as an
imaginary realm.”¹⁹
By late 1986 geometric ornaments yielded to free
forms, which in early 1987 assumed many active roles in the
composition. No longer in a dark star‑filled space, they yet remain
in an imaginary realm. These new ornaments, with their quivering
edges, carry all three elements of color, thus embodying the
painting’s excitement. Their recognizability—though varying in
degree—lingers as plant abstractions, imparting dimensional nuance
without explaining the whole’s meaning. Over time these motifs again
yield to geometric forms, their recognizability diminished by
speculative effect.
DIRECTION
In my paintings, alongside value, hue and
saturation contrasts intensify upon the emergence of directional
contrasts—the opposition of vertical and horizontal. While every
direction has its counterpart, these remain unbalanced in my work;
more often, one direction predominates. Horizontal and vertical thus
exist not merely as orientations but may assume central significance.
PLACEMENT
When opposing elements begin to cling to an
artwork’s edges, the painting does not alienate itself from its
frame but rather appears crafted in harmony with its bounds. Though
the image may seem cropped in places, the sense of wholeness remains
intact for the viewer, who receives all essentials. Engagement with
the edges initiates an opening to the atmosphere beyond the surface.
Even as edge clustering eventually loosens, the adherence to the
borders persists, intensifying the opening to surrounding air. With
this loosening, distinct sections form within the field; these
remain connected to the whole yet maintain independence where chosen.
Though they may later converge again, it never reverts to mere
clustering.
By organizing, sequencing, and conditioning the
elements, the artist creates a unique spatial expression—one that
placement powerfully accentuates.
HIGHLIGHTED WORKS
Following the effort to determine my artistic
direction, I now formally analyze and explain the most outstanding
works under their own titles:
-
Two
Windows (“İki Pencere”) initiated this series. Color
contrasts gradually emerged alongside ordering, activation, and
the problems of speculative space—already hinted in my thesis
Great Cavity but
illuminated here with major role‑shifts. Contrasts moved from
central accumulation to edge‑clinging, carrying their energies to
the margins.
-
Torch (“Meşale”), little different in placement, develops
linear ornaments repurposed for clarity; recognizability is
abolished, leaving only the name. Value prevails, and darkness
holds the active state.
-
Leaves (“Yapraklar”) introduces measured saturation; edge‑clinging
yields to expansion, which intensifies in
Ivy
(“Sarmaşık”). Here breathing—opening to air—begins.
-
Flowering Column (“Çiçekli Sütun”) increases clarity and
precision; sections, though connected, gain independence, moving
and counter‑moving within the space and toward the air. Vertical
predominance weakens directional contrast; value contrast leads
while hue and saturation are borne by emerging flower motifs.
-
Red
Section and
Red Valley invert earlier whites to red and floral
columns to geometric color forms; thermal excitement peaks.
Recognizability recedes, and light value overtakes darkness.
-
Between Columns and
Dotted Column
see sections converge and columns duplicate, seeking unity from
preceding dispersion; hue and saturation no longer confined to
columns. Verticals remain constant.
We recognize that the process and role of
creation cannot be predetermined. What precedes here is but a verbal
attempt to explain my current artistic approach. This explanatory
endeavor—and what has been done and created through it—serves only
as a harbinger of new journeys.
NOTES & EXPLANATIONS
-
Speculative (Kurgusal): From Ottoman Fikrî/Aklî/Tasavvurî;
Fr. Spéculatif; Engl. Speculative. Philosophically richer than “fictional,”
implying conceptual hypothesis rather than mere imagination.
-
Abstract (Soyut): From Ottoman Mücerret/Küllî/Menzû; Fr. Abstrait;
Engl. Abstract. Denotes reflection of a fragment of objective
reality, not detached idealist thought.
-
Abstraction (Soyutlama): Mental operation isolating
aspects of an object—separating what is inseparable in reality;
essential knowledge arises from abstraction.
-
Footnotes
1. Öztopçu, exhibition brochure Yonca Modern Sanat Galerisi,
Istanbul, Nov 1988.
2. Bedia Akarsu,
Çağdaş Felsefe Akımları, Istanbul 1979, p. 72.
3. Akarsu, p. 71.
4. Worringer,
Abstraktion und Einfühlung, 2nd ed. Istanbul 1971, p. 16.
5. ibid., p. 17.
6. ibid., pp. 36–37.
7. ibid., p. 17.
8. Maya: Buddhist concept of the sensory world as illusion.
9. Worringer quoting Schopenhauer,
Kritik der Kantischen
Philosophie, p. 18.
10. ibid., p. 18.
11. Werner Haftmann in İsmail Tunalı,
Felsefenin Işığında Modern Resim, Istanbul 1981, p. 137.
12. Max Scheler, İnsanın Kosmostaki Yeri,
Istanbul 1968, p. 50.
13. Kant, Critique of
Pure Reason, as excerpted in Saffet Suner,
Düşüncenin Tarihteki Evrimi, Istanbul 1967, pp. 224–245.
14. Bedia Akarsu, ibid., p. 75.
15. Scheler, p. 43.
16. ibid., pp. 44–45.
17. ibid., p. 60.
18. Paul Klee,
Pedagogical Sketchbook, trans. Mehmet Dündar, Ankara, n.d.,
p. 53.
19. Öztopçu,
Işık‑Mekân‑Obje, Mimar Sinan Univ. master’s report, p. 8.
RESOURCES USED
