Confused Examination Under Given Circumstances, 2020, revisits a John Ruskin lecture titled “On the Elements of Crystallization” and Freud’s “crystal-principle” to draw parallels between the rigidity of crystals and the disciplinary procedures of governments. Öztat weaves her lecture through interludes of crystal-fondling and crystal-licking, testing the sharp, erotic edges of the mineral as her 3-D models melt into stringy, jellyfish-like forms. After guiding viewers through paintings, X-rays, and scientific documents on the subject, the artist’s hand enters a black glove and yanks a trapezoidal hunk of ersatz schairerite out of the frame. Öztat’s study reflects the show’s interest in crystals as shapeshifting organisms and emblems for the liquid borders between ancestral cultures and modernity, between translucence and opacity.
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