PD/MGRTT 2018

Editor: We're looking at Ayse Erkmen's 2018 photograph "PD/MGRTT." It shows a beautiful beach scene, but on top of a rock formation, there's the word "Magritte" in block letters. The juxtaposition feels playful and surreal, and I am immediately curious, what do you see in this piece? Curator: The "Magritte" slapped atop the island shifts our focus to the act of naming, of branding, and the social value placed on "art." Erkmen appropriates both a natural landscape, the manufactured image, and the legacy of Magritte. The gesture draws attention to the labor of cultural production. Editor: That's interesting! I didn't consider it as "branding". So you're saying that she’s commenting on how even art and artists become commodities? Curator: Precisely. Consider the sheer quantity of photography produced and consumed daily. Erkmen uses the visual language of postcards and stock photography to highlight this culture. Where does the artistic labor reside, and who profits from it? Editor: So the deliberate misspelling in the title also factors into this commentary, further disrupting the "branding?" Curator: Indeed. It distances the piece from direct replication, re-inserting the artist’s hand in the equation and reminding us of the deliberate construction of meaning, playing with the artistic value itself. Are we discussing a critique on labor, the photographic medium, or just the re-contextualization of image itself? Editor: I see. I was drawn in by the visual initially, but now I'm appreciating the layers of social commentary woven into something seemingly so simple. Curator: The layers, the art historical referencing... and where this referencing comes from is, as always, the place where new meaning appears, from process to material to photograph to us, as we bring our own interpretation. Editor: Exactly! Thanks for untangling that for me! It's definitely made me rethink how I approach contemporary photography.