BARTU BAŞOĞLU

Among the artists of TRAMANDA is Bartu Başoğlu, who has already been awarded the 2019 Young Fiber Contest. Born in Soke, Turkey, in 1995, Başoğlu graduated from Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir, Faculty of Fine Arts,  Department of Textiles and Fashion. In 2017, he won the 7th Turkey Home Textile Design Competition – Most Innovative Product Design Category – award, allowing him to complete his master’s degree at NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano in Fashion and Textile Design. He is based in Milan and works as a freelance designer between Italy and Turkey.

How and when does your interest in all aspects of textiles come about?

I can say that my bond with textile starts from the day I was born. I was born into a farmer family. They have been producing cotton from the past to the present. That’s why, by experiencing the process of cotton, which is one of the main materials of textile, from a seed to a yarn, my bond with textile started. I am a student who draws constantly while I am studying at primary school.

Thereupon, I got my high school education in Aydın Yüksel Yalova Fine Arts High School, painting department in order to improve myself better. I can say that I started with Art professionally. After graduating from high school, I entered the textile design department exams upon the guidance of a teacher for the University exams. I studied at Dokuz Eylül University Fine Arts Faculty, Textile and fashion design department. In this process, I started to combine the textile techniques I learned with my artistic knowledge and skills.

What is the main focus of your work and research – art, fashion, design?

First of all, I give priority to myself when choosing a research topic in a study. I focus on the subjects where I can express myself best and be free. By choosing technology as my focal point, I conduct various researches that will enrich my target point. I combine human psychology with technology.

Your research has recently gained several awards. To what extent is experimentation necessary in your practice? How much do the materials you select have an intrinsic, conceptual value?

First of all, I love working with new materials. I am a person who believes that more creative work is done by doing experiments. It is possible to explore beyond a familiar world with trial and error method. The materials I choose are very important to me. They reflect the fun and passion as well as my personality. In order to get to know the material I choose, I try to feel it by experimenting with it.

First of all, I know the material physically, I shape it in my hand and explore it by playing it like a toy. In this process, an inner bond is formed between me and that material. The materials I work with always bear traces of my inner world. I try to convey the emotion and thought that I want to reflect to the other party with materials.

Where do you find the inspiration for your work? And how does an idea become a work of Art?

I usually draw inspiration from the past and the future in my works. In other words, I somehow combine the world we live in and the new world offered by technology on a common denominator. I prefer to be fed from all branches of art. Sometimes this can be in a sculpture, sometimes in music. Sometimes I can be inspired by a research topic that caught my attention. I set myself pretty free on this one. Once an idea is formed in my mind, I don’t physically transform it into something for a certain period of time. Initially, I do a little research. While continuing my daily life, it always continues in my intellectual maturation process. I develop that idea by constantly thinking and dreaming. Since I also entered the process of selective perception in this process, I encounter things that support my opinion more. Thus, when my idea reaches a certain maturity stage, the process of creating it physically begins by supporting it with the research I have done. Of course, in this process, I also complete the material research. I am experimenting with the first sketch and material. As the last step, the work emerges with the production process in order to reach the work that I dreamed of.

In 2019, you won joint first place at the TRAMANDA Young Fiber Contest with a work that brought together past and future between weaving and optic fiber. Can you tell me more about that work?

First of all, I would like to thank the team that organized this valuable competition and exhibition. I did that work using fiber optic leds and hand weaving technique. By combining technology and traditional technique, I think we can always move forward thanks to our past, that is, our roots. In this work, I combined the past and the future together. In the study, people’s moods would change. They start the day sometimes cheerful, sometimes happy, sometimes angry, sometimes neutral. This work reflects the different moods of people. Traditional weaving technique and technology are combined.

Three different yarn types and colors were used in the study. The touch and colors of the threads express our emotions. The variable lights and light streams on the LEDs symbolize the events experienced during the day.

In the study, I also explain that every individual’s point of view, emotion, reaction to the same situation varies in the course of life during the day.

This perspective reflects the art perspective of the new age

You also have artwork in this year’s TRAMANDA in Chieri. How has your artistic work evolved over this time?

I am very happy about this and feel honoured. In this work, I worked by combining fluorescent dye with the jacquard weaving technique. Production was made on the machine with the jacquard weaving technique, which is one of the basic techniques of woven fabric. Then I created the work in two stages by dyeing on the woven cloth. As always, I touch technology from one place in my work. I did this with the paint glowing in purple light from this work. The main story of the study; Emotions are the paradigm of abstract concepts. We can see a smile, touch anger, feel our faces red. However, we cannot say that we can fully see happiness.

Nevertheless, the concrete interaction of abstract human emotions with the physical world can take place in various ways.

At this point, I reflect in my work the clues about the specialization of the waves in the brain, which is an essential dimension of human emotions, its emotional motivation. The optical image represents the emotions found in our brain.

The regions painted with the fluorescent paint reflect happiness. The dye reacts under the light and shines and the colors appear vivid. In this way, happiness emerges and represents the output.

What plans do you have for the near future? What are you working on at the moment?

I have just graduated from Milan NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti de fashion and textile design department. After that, I decided to live in Milan. I work as a freelance designer in the field of textile and fashion design. I am working on establishing my own brand. Of course, I continue my artistic works in this process. I am currently working on a project to use robot technology and fibre art together. By making a series of this work, I started working to open a personal exhibition on fibre art in Italy.