A Conversation with Gian Maria Tosatti on the Installation Exhibition titled Istanbul Section – My Heart Is Empty as a Mirror
In 2015, we had an interview with the Italian contemporary artist Gian Maria Tosatti, who is shown among the 30 most interesting artists of his generation by ArtReview, on the installation exhibition titled My Heart Is Empty as a Mirror – Istanbul Section, which he opened in Tarlabaşı on May 24.
Italian artist, Tosatti, from the production process of his exhibition; to the processes he lived in Tarlabaşı; from the Turkish cat he adopted; The artist shared many details, up to the title of “interesting”, for our readers.
Gian Maria Tosatti’ social media account
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How would you introduce yourself to Turkish art lovers?
I would say only that I’m an artist which is in love with the wonderful and deep culture of Turkey.
What kind of performance and experience await your visitors in your installation exhibition titled My Heart Is Empty as a Mirror – Istanbul Episode?
Well it is the same experience that any of them can have living in Tarlabasi for six years. It has to do with life, not with art. Art is only able to concentrate these living things into a short intense moment. So the real question is what could we learn about ourselves if we can live in a place so powerful and human like Tarlabasi?
What kind of a production process is My Heart Is Empty as a Mirror – Istanbul Episode a product of? Why Tarlabaşı? During this time you were in Tarlabaşı as a part of production, were there any circumstances that challenged you?
It was a long process. Six years of work. It has been a love story between me and the city. I even adopted a Turkish cat that was sick and almost dead. Now it lives in my house in Naples. I never had any issues or real challenge in this work. People of Tarlabasi are the most generous. They helped me to find the path. They don’t have much, but they are ready to share it. And all the children there remind us how delicate and bright is anybody of us.
We know that you were named among the 30 most interesting artists of the year by ArtReview in 2015. That’s why the word “interesting” is used at the beginning of the news about you. What makes you and your art interesting?
Well, I’m not the person who should answer this question. The visitors should do it. I only try to do my job as an artist. What I can say is that among others, I’m one of the ones who defined the idea of what we call environmental art. And it is probably one of the most typical forms of art of the XXI Century.
How do you find the interest in My Heart Is Empty as a Mirror – Istanbul Episode? What are the visitors’ reactions after their personal experiences?
Many people cried when they got out from the show. Well, I think that the sense of an artwork could be measured with the tears of its visitors.
What do you think about Istanbul? What would you say about the Istanbul episode of your artistic research called My Heart Is Empty as a Mirror?
I can say that Istanbul is a city that is living the same troubled and confused times of many other places in the world today. Many things are changing and it seems that in this process much is what we lose and little is what we gain. I think that the future will always bring evolution, but some moments are darker than others. In some moments we have to lose something to find the courage to make the effort that we need to become better.
Marking tag: Gian Maria Tosatti, Kalbim Ayna Gibi Boş – İstanbul Bölümü, 2021, ambient installation, site specific, supported by the Italian Council (2019).
