Interview with an Octopus

Had the most enlightening meeting with the Turkish artist, Ali Osman Coşkun. I was on an assignment for Lavish magazine to cover his recent exhibition, "Octopus' Land Notes" held at the National Art Gallery. His perspective on art industry (a term he dislikes) was exceptionally interesting. He said that hegemony of art messes up the natural evolution of art.

"They (the capital or ruling class)create and commercialize cultural icons like Marilyn Monroe or James Dean to cash-in on their success. This sort of creates a cultural tunnel-vision, the ones neglected suffers even if they are comparatively beneficial to the society. Van Gogh is a good example. He sold only one painting when he was alive. The society was so engrossed in what the elite favored they failed to notice his genius. Of course, they wasted no time to make him a cultural icon soon after his death." (Read the full interview in the next Lavish edition)

Follow Ali Osman Coşkun on his website>>

http://www.aliosmancoskun.com/default.asp