Metin Çelik

Post-Apocalyptic, 2017, Oil on canvas – Charcoal on paper, 90 x 180 cm – 25 x 50 cm

The greatest legacy passed down to us from previous centuries is “the practice of destruction engendered by competition.” I believe that this practice has now become a culture in itself. The ambition of the stags locked in combat in the painting reveals precisely this condition. We are captives of the cage—whether it represents a piece of land, an object of desire, status, or whatever else we seek to possess. At the same time, we are artificial birds caught within the wars of sovereigns and those in power. We are the ones who perpetuate war, which in turn causes every form of destruction that follows. We place the cage upon our heads like a crown, only to turn it into our own affliction once we have attained power. We are the thousands of blades of grass crushed beneath their hooves. In the aftermath of the First World War, Fernand Léger stated: “No one saw the war coming. War was hidden, disguised, crouching, taking on the colour of the earth. The blind eye saw nothing.” With these words, he pointed towards the notion of witnessing in which we find ourselves implicated. Today, amid a cycle of violence that is ignored and has come to be accepted by all of us as ordinary, we are once again bearing witness to destruction. We pass our legacy on to future generations not only through our genes, but through everything we destroy.