Organised by Akbank Sanat, the “Sınır Durumlar” (Borderline States) talk series focuses on the fundamental experiences of modern humanity through the lens of psychiatry and philosophy. Held under the “Akbank Sanat Her Yerde” (Akbank Sanat Everywhere) umbrella with the subtitle “Art at the Border of Psychology and Philosophy”, the series is shaped around the themes of pleasure, madness, art and love.
Inviting audiences to re-read the story of the human being split in two under the siege of the modern age – from the intersection of psychiatry and philosophy, and drawing on the visual memory of contemporary art – Akbank Sanat’s “Sınır Durumlar” talk series runs from January to May under the subtitle “Art at the Border of Psychology and Philosophy”. Devised and presented by psychiatrist Dr Cengiz Arca and writer Ezgi Emel, the series opens up for discussion, in the context of contemporary life, the rift between a body that is measured and monitored and a mind that endlessly produces anxiety.
The talks examine, around a range of themes, the modern subject’s relationship with its desires, fears and search for meaning. Ranging from the artificial pleasure created by dopamine to the political boundaries of madness, and from cinema’s power of representation to love’s fraught relationship with freedom, the topics are discussed through the approaches of thinkers such as Thomas Szasz, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Zygmunt Bauman. These borderline states, in which abstract concepts are also questioned on an aesthetic plane, are illustrated with striking examples from contemporary art. Addressing the social and philosophical backgrounds of individual experience, the talks consider, within an intellectual framework, the spaces of existence opened up by remaining broken, by uncertainty and by daring to feel everything.
The first talk in the series, “At the Border of Pleasure and Pain: Dopamine”, looks at the pleasure-driven structure of modern life and its effects on the individual. Taking place at Minoa Pera and starting from the paradox in Anna Lembke’s book Dopamine Nation, the talk discusses why cycles of instant gratification ultimately turn into burnout. Dopamine’s relationship with pleasure and pain is explored within the context of body and mind, alongside the intellectual framework of Gilles Deleuze.
The talk “At the Border of Normal and Abnormal: Madness” asks whether madness is a biological condition or a social construct, and considers how modern society constructs its definition of normal through Thomas Szasz’s view that “mental illness is a metaphor” and Michel Foucault’s analyses of power and confinement.
The talk “At the Border of Representation and Uncertainty: Criticism” discusses the ways cinema constructs its own reality, the illusions it draws the viewer into and the intellectual pleasure of questioning those illusions. It explores the moments when films do more than tell stories, holding up a mirror to social norms, psychological depths and existential questions.
Opening up a discussion, through art, of the endlessly calculating, ordering rationality of the mind and the creative power of chaos, the talk “At the Border of Order and Chaos: Art” examines how art and expanded consciousness blur the boundaries of the “self”, from the dissolution of consciousness in psychedelic experiences to Michael Pollan’s existential explorations.
The final part of the series, “At the Border of Surrender and Freedom: Love”, puts the fragility of modern relationships under the microscope through Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of Liquid Love. The relationship between attachment, surrender and freedom is examined through the concepts of dependence and autonomy.
Talk Schedule:
Wednesday 14 January 18.30 – 20.00
At the Border of Pleasure and Pain: Dopamine
Wednesday 25 February 18.30 – 20.00
At the Border of Normal and Abnormal: Madness
Wednesday 11 March 18.30 – 20.00
At the Border of Representation and Uncertainty: Criticism
Wednesday 8 April 18.30 – 20.00
At the Border of Order and Chaos: Art
Wednesday 6 May 18.30 – 20.00
At the Border of Surrender and Freedom: Love
