Vahap Avşar

Tekmil, 2010, Video, 4’22”

Tekmil is the name of the act and title of a single channel video installation of a soldier’s oath. In August 2010, 6 months after Vahap Avsar has done his mandatory military service, invited his drill sergeant Salih Cavus to his studio in Istanbul for this project. When the sergeant arrived in the studio Avsar gave him a hair cut, a set of uniforms and a pair of soldiers boots then asked him to switch roles. After he is nervously agreeing, Avsar become the sergeant and Salh Cavus the plain soldier. In this video Avsar is behind the camera asking questions, as the sergeant he once was trained by and Salih Cavus answer all the hard questions nervously. Role playing quickly becomes real as they both feel the terror of military training.