ÇÜTAM conferences have started.

The Çukurova Turkish Studies Research Center (ÇÜTAM), which has been holding conferences every Wednesday for 9 years without interruption, had its first speaker of the new term, Research Assistant Aytuna Cora from the Department of Ceramics at Çukurova University Faculty of Fine Arts. In her talk titled “Understanding the Artwork,” Cora stated, “An artwork is different from other existing objects.”

During the meeting held at the Kısacıkzade Mansion, ÇÜTAM Director Prof. Dr. Deniz Abik announced that after a break due to the hot weather in Adana, they would resume their activities in October after pausing at the end of June for 9 years.

After Prof. Abik’s opening speech, Research Assistant Aytuna Cora took the podium and noted that the question of what an artwork is has long been one of the issues that has occupied her mind as an art producer. She said, “When we say artwork, a specific image arises in all of our minds within the framework of common characteristics. A painting consists of canvas and layers of paint on it, a marble sculpture exists as the shaped, carved form of marble, and ceramic works can also be shown as examples. The material that constitutes the artwork, whether it be marble, wood, ceramic, or paint layer, becomes a prerequisite for the artwork’s existence on the ground of concrete realities. We perceive the artwork along with color, form, texture, and volume. These physical qualities of the artwork are the first layers we encounter with the work. We come across the material that creates the artwork and carries it through the issue that exists in someone else’s mind. In this sense, the physical integrity of the artwork is an important structure for its ability to exist as an object and to meet the viewer. However, this layer alone is insufficient to explain and understand the artwork.”

Research Assistant Aytuna Cora expressed the following:

“Artworks, by their nature, must come into being through a consciousness. In this respect, the way of production is similar to that of a functional object. Unlike functional objects, the material in the artwork preserves its own freedom of space. The artist specifically chooses the material they will use, particularly for the unique characteristic structure of the material itself. In poetry, each word is there to refer to the concept that the word implies. Therefore, in an artwork, the material can freely showcase itself as material. ”

Cora emphasized that a person, as a directed being, is in a mental process of knowing and understanding, stating:

“In all actions such as looking, hearing, sensing a smell, and touching a surface, consciousness has directed itself towards something. The relationship that a person establishes with the world can be meaningfully constructed through these mental processes. It is produced by feeding on the world in which the artist lives, as well as on all kinds of conditions and situations they interact with. The artwork speaks something; it carries content that the artist transforms into material integrity using the material. The process of transforming the content into a material integrity can be defined as art production. The production of a functional object and the creation of an artwork, which encompasses a production process that requires inspiration, are positioned separately from each other. In light of this information, it becomes clearer how an artwork differs from other existing objects. ”

At the end of the conference, ÇÜTAM Director Prof. Dr. Deniz Abik presented a certificate of appreciation to Research Assistant Aytuna Cora, and the meeting concluded with a group photo.