Meet Işık Kaya Thomas Georg Blank | Visual Artists

We had the good fortune of connecting with Işık Kaya Thomas Georg Blank and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Işık Kaya, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Işık was born in Turkey and Thomas in Germany. Although our families come from very different countries, we both share a similar experience of growing up close to American military bases. This did not have an immediate effect on who we are, however, it did significantly contribute to both of us being exposed to displays of the US military power and consumerist culture from a very young age. Işık remembers hearing US military jets taking off from İncirlik Airbase and flying over her childhood home during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and Thomas used to play in music bands with American military personnel. While growing up, these things were somewhat ordinary experiences, but in retrospect, the presence of the US military in our home countries is something that we question and investigate as part of our artistic practice. Not the military presence itself, but the system it stands for and the neoliberal policies and infrastructures it spreads. Long before we were living in the US, the US was living in our neighborhoods and heads – for better or worse. And on a less abstract level, it contributed to us learning the language, and studying in the US where we met, which eventually lead us here to Los Angeles.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We are visual artists working primarily with lens-based media. We explore the ways in which humans shape and inhabit the world, therefore, our projects often focus on traces of economic infrastructures and how neoliberal politics determine the ways we live. Our approach is deeply rooted in documentary practices. However, by pushing the boundaries of how reality can be depicted, we try to transcend the domain of representation and create completely independent, often hyperreal visual worlds. As a result, the boundaries between reality and fiction in our work become blurred. Most of our projects are shot at night, which accentuates the uncanny atmosphere of man-made landscapes. Developing this kind of distinct, yet accessible visual language is something that we are constantly working on. Working together helps because there are two pairs of eyes to understand what is happening visually. And we certainly did come to where we are right now professionally because we united our practices. We amplify our individual strengths and compensate for our weaknesses. And it is also just so much more fun and rewarding to be out with the camera at night when you are together.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Since we have a tendency of being attracted to places that are somewhat off the radar and go there at night, we would start with a nocturnal tour of the most impressive highway intersections. One of our personal favorites, the intersection of I-105 and I-110, is not too far away from where we live and we could grab a bite from Kindle’s Donuts. Not because we love donuts, but because it is a great example of crazy Californian roadside architecture. From there, we would follow I-110 all the way down south to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Right under the Vincent Thomas Bridge is a small park where the parking lot of the Catalina Island Express Terminal is. It is great to spend some time there and observe the giant machines operating at night, piling up massive amounts of containers on ships that are as big as a whole neighborhood. We would then slowly make our way up to Palos Verdes to observe how the rising sun is pushing the pacific layer of the night back onto the ocean. We would then spend the morning on Rat Beach before checking out the strangest cell tower trees in town –we have our own map for that. This would eventually lead us to Arcana in Culver City where we would try really hard not to buy half of the store’s beautiful books. Then we would get some delicious treats and drinks at Little Fatty in Mar Vista. After this Tour de Force, we’d take it really slow for a day and enjoy being home with our cat and games. The rest of the time we would be recovering in Morro Bay to just enjoy the ocean, oysters, and hiking.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are many people that have and still do influence, inspire and support us, including our families and friends. And we are eternally grateful for the social network that we are embedded in and that helps us to carry the weight of our lives when it gets difficult. But instead of pointing out just one or two individuals, we would like to dedicate our shoutout to the Internet Archive. A few years ago we had the chance to spend some time in their San Francisco headquarter to produce a video. They deserve recognition because it is one of those institutions that just leave you with a feeling of hope. They make you realize that in the right hands the Internet and its infrastructure does not become instruments of surveillance and control, but, on the contrary, can be beautiful tools for exchange, education and emancipation. They are able to show the good side of humanity. They enable people to be creative with the craziest online collections one could imagine. Thanks for being a light in our –sometimes literally– dark minds, Internet Archive!

Website: https://www.kayablank.com

Instagram: @kaya.blank

Image Credits
All images by Kaya & Blank