SADI CALIK "LIVING IN ORDER TO CREATE SCULPTURE WHERE THERE IS NONE"
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Interview: Milliyet Art Supplement, January 1974.
Milliyet Art Supplement, January 1974
Interview between Mustafa Ones and :
During the open forum arranged to choose the "Art Supplement" Artist of the Year, Sadi Calik’s name was mentioned. Prof. Zuhtu Muridoğlu declared that Sadi Calik was the most successful artist in this field on account of his 6 metre tall copper sculpture for the Ataturk Memorial as well as other works of his. Below is the text of the interview with Sadi Calik:
Mustafa Ones: Could you give us some information about your last two works?
Sadi Calik: One is the Ataturk memorial I made, which won first prize in the competition held by Etibank Aluminium Works, and the other is a composition symbolizing 50 years of progress, commissioned by Yapi ve Kredi Bank for the 50th Anniversary, which was placed at Galatasaray.
The first is a traditional figurative group, 6 metres tall and made of beaten copper, which has a central figure of Ataturk flanked by figures of engineers and workers. It brings to life the founding and development of our industries. Behind Ataturk, a 24 meter aluminium column stretches upwards.
For the 50th Anniversary Monument, I made a sculptural composition of the years 1923 and 1973 in granite. I used stainless steel piping to represent the progress forward over 50 years in order to show our understanding of art today. I used large-scale measurements in a diagonal arrangement to suit the place where it was to stand. My aim was to counteract the frenetic atmosphere of Beyoglu.
In both of them I used copper and stainless steel together, the first time this has been done in Turkey.
Mustafa Ones: What differences are there in sculpture between a monumental inscription and a bust?
Sadi Calik: In sculpture I am not in favour of distinguishing between a sculptured memorial and an engraved tablet. This is, I think, a false idea which has come down to us from the past. In my opinion, art is a whole in all its forms. This idea suggest that the name of sculpture should be given to 3-dimensional forms. However, essentially there is no such difference. In art as form, as in other kinds of art, the main intention is to provide a way of communication between humans. Its function whether, as a memorial or not, is connected with the message it wishes to give, as is its relationship with its surroundings. All of these may be accomplished according to the conditions or advice give.
Here the artist is the one who makes the prototype, the man the one who says it first.
Mustafa Ones: To set up a monument is understood to be the most familiar way of commemorating a particular historical subject. However, many people have said that they cannot understand the meaning of many of the monuments set up in various places in Istanbul to commemorate the 50thanniversary of the Republic. What have you to say on this?
Sadi Calik: It was not a monument but a sculpture that was required from the sculptors in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary. Every artist creates a work in accordance with his own ideas of art and his own individuality. What it contains may be positive or negative . That is only natural. Together with this, these sculptures, made in a short space of time and with restricted materials, are, for the most part, positive examples of the contemporary understanding of art .
The fact that, for the first time in Turkey, artists have been allowed to use their own initiative and their sculpture has been placed here and there in the city shows how public awareness has developed over 50 years. In truth, these monuments have reached the level of ideological thought. Those who dislike them are misled through narrowmindedness and prejudice
Mustafa Ones: Do you agree with the view that sculpture in our country today is lagging behind the other arts? What are the reasons for this?
Sadi Calik: I can’t agree with you. The parts are the sum of the whole. Even if the output is small, the outcome cannot be called behind or in advance of the times.
In 1957, I exhibited a wire sculpture two meters tall and 5 millimeters thick, called "Minimunizm" at a joint exhibition in the American Information Bureau. With this work I wished to show that the smallest plastic element in space is a line. This created a new problem. It aroused no interest in the prevailing understanding of art at that time. I later observed to my chagrin that in the 1960’s a movement called "Minimal Art" arose in America and England .
This example shows that Turkish sculpture is not behind the times. Many other sculptors have produced work of universal value. However, unfortunately, the art of sculpting is heavy and tiring so in every part of the world the output is small.
This example shows that Turkish sculpture is not behind the times. Many other sculptors have produced work of universal value. However, unfortunately, the art of sculpting is heavy and tiring so in every part of the world the output is small.
Mustafa Ones: What has been the effect of the increase in the tools for sculpting since ancient times?
Sadi Calik: In shaping his material, an artist constantly looks for new arrangements never seen before, as well as finding many new angles of interpretation. This involves a struggle between the artist and the materials from which the work is born. As the number of materials increases this struggle is intensified and the work succeeds through overcoming these difficulties. The possibilities created through scientific knowledge and technology enriches a work and increases its powers of communication.
Materials made available through modern technology create movement, light , sound and many other possibilities. Let me tell you about something I have observed.
Some years ago I was travelling in Italy. In one church, I was reminded of the entrance to a cinema I had been to as a child which had been completely covered from floor to ceiling with advertisements for the film. In that church the master painter, Giotto, had made advertisements for Jesus. The church authorities had chosen Giotto for his skill in advertising. Later, I reflected on what effective advertisements he might have created if the electronic projections and spatial dynamics of today had been available to him.
The artists of today are able to work with the unlimited possibilities which new world views and new materials have brought to the plastic arts. Each new day strives to break the mould of the one before.
Mustafa Ones: What influences and movements dominate in world sculpture today? Can you give any information on the latest work of important foreign sculptors?
Sadi Calik: An artist does not work under the influence of a movement but tries to create one.
With the beginning of the 20th century, the artist began to review the essential problem of art itself. When this century began, movements such as Cubism, Fauvism. Futurism, Constructivism, and others, were on the increase. In fact, there was even the Anti-Art movement against these movements . The various movements of today have come to light in opposition to each other. These struggles are what is good today.
While on the one hand, the trend towards social art continues to exert an influence, on the other, a surrealist movement has arisen under the influence of psychoanalysis. In my opinion, instead of reflections on art itself, art is being influenced by metaphysics.
To my mind, art is not metaphysics but is concerned with the physical and the rational. Art is created by experimentation and exploring the potential of one’s medium.
When we say ‘today’ we are actually thinking of the period after 1945, that is, following WW 2. This was a period when humanity was undergoing a sharp change of direction. It was a time of change in economics, politics, technology, and art. In this period the artist was becoming more independent, more individual to such an extent, in fact, that there were those who gave up creating actual works and tried to experiment in creating sculpture through writing about it. The increase of this movement and the spread of independent ideas means that everybody’s capacity for art may be recognized.
Today the number of artists in the world is uncountable. The term "great master" is no longer used and every society has a number of famous artists. However, as these come from the same cultural background, there is no regional peculiarity and their works all have something in common. They all try to achieve newness of form and endeavour to go beyond their own boundaries to find an individual way of expressing themselves
Since 1945 up to the present time, many artists of equal merit have come in to existence. It would be impossible to list their works and the new meanings they have tried to express in these. This seems to me to be a subject which needs to be researched into on many levels.