English translation:
BARCODE: SYMBOL OF MODERN TIMES
Like a boomerang, the barcode repeatedly appears in the works of Asli Özok. Many of her paintings are marked by this motif. It all began with a faucet.
Asli Özok is a Turkish artist who lives and works in London. Through her work, she reflects on the modern world, showcasing both its beauty and its shadows, and connects art history with societal development. One of the themes she explores is humanity's consumer behavior.
Asli Özok recalls her first conscious encounter with a barcode as a revelation: "My fascination with optical art began when, while washing my brushes at the art academy, I noticed a barcode sticker attached to a faucet. I realized that the barcode is an omnipresent symbol of modern times. It represents concepts like identity, belonging, and consumption. And it mirrors our consumer society's obsession with acquisition, disposal, and consumption."
The Barcode Series
From 2002 to 2006, she created the "Barcode Series," which influenced many of her subsequent works. This series centers on the barcode and its impact on our everyday lives. Özok combined images and symbols of people or objects with an overlaid barcode. One early work in this series, "TRANSPORT," was first shown in her diploma exhibition and later became part of a permanent exhibition at Queen's House, a British gallery for modern art in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. The themes explored in this piece were transport, import, and consumption. "The inspiration came during my undergraduate studies, when I took a ferry to Haydarpasa and sketched boats and ships in the harbor."
... and its Influence on Later Works
A more recent example influenced by barcodes is "DAY-DREAMING" from 2018. It depicts the everyday life of business people. "I observed how crowds of people moved, swirled around each other, danced, and formed shapes reminiscent of schools of fish," Özok explains. She used the barcode as a sculptural element here and added the number 50, representing the country code for the United Kingdom.
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