A City on Earth

WE LOVE YOU & WE LOVE MÜNFERİT!

The world is a big, weird place full of weird people. Some pretend to be cars, some (doing yoga) take this sun salutation thing very seriously, and some go to Lucca. The latter is an “unidentified” venue situated in Bebek – to me, the most claustrophobic neighbourhood in Istanbul despite the by-the-sea location- that has been in operation for the last 4 or 5 years. At Lucca, one is offered mediocre food, ordinary cocktails that are outrageously priced  and a large population of so-chic-that-it-scares type of human beings, all in an obnoxious environment shaped by an ugly and cheap-looking mixture of furniture. Supposedly, Lucca is a cafe (the signboard reads it is also a restaurant), but it pretends to be a night club after dark. So one expects a superb audio system that is well-spent a few bucks from that hard-earned cash (cocktails, anyone?), just like one anticipates to find in every other night club. However, in this case, one falls short of one’s expectations. At Lucca, the music is played loud through a set of lousy speakers, and when accompanied by the general hum of voices, there’s no melody to enjoy, but a malady for one’s pair of ears is always guaranteed. If you are not very sensitive about music or a deaf person, I still can count a lot of viable reasons to why you should avoid Lucca. From a few (very rare) personal experiences and also from what I’ve been hearing from other people, the staff is rude and intolerable. The place gets so overcrowded that you sometimes find yourself kissing someone-you-don’t-know’s neck. And there’s always a huge big traffic jam to get stuck in on the way back to home-sweet-home.

I really don’t understand why anyone would even consider Lucca as a going-out activity.

I love the artichoke without caring about if the artichoke loves me back or not. It is my most favourite vegetable in the whole world. My grandma used to make the best artichoke dishes, and my mom is not bad at creating her own version of artichoke food formats either. And there’s Kantin’s artichoke spread which, for me, is a yummier than yummy side dish. And I say “hello” to those two men who sell fresh artichokes on the corner of a street in Nisantasi whenever I make eye contact with one or two of them. So, up to here, I think I’ve made myself clear about my feelings towards the cynara cardunculus. They are just marvelous. On the way to Ikea this past weekend, right at the heart of Bayrampaşa, a district which has made a name for itself with its eponymous prison (I’m thinking that these days Ikea is way more popular than the prison. Ask for directions and you’ll notice that everyone is in the know.), I found this fountain made of giant artichokes. OK, I know we are shit at designing urban objects but what the hell is this?  One more question to the Swedish people: Does your Ikea offer such incredible sights en route?

Today, I have the most beautiful flowers on my desk at the office.

Thanks
X

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Ondokuz: Jurnal Street No:19 Asmalı Mescit, Tünel Beyoğlu
T. 0212 252 5164

… in Istanbul. Particularly, these days… As mentioned on my previous post, it was this new restaurant/bar called Münferit’s opening night on Friday, and so we were there for a while (approximately, for 6 hours). While everybody else was enjoying the offerings of the open buffet and eating properly from their plates while sitting properly on a nice comfy chair, we were situated around the bar, suffering from a type of eating disorder and cheating on risotto-stuffed artichokes with jugs of Lynchburg Lemonade. I couldn’t count how many but I can say there were plenty of empty jugs around when we were done. On Saturday night, we booked a long table for all the Lynchburg veterans of the previous night. We were finally there with food-consuming purposes. The food at Münferit is good. “Awesome”, is a delayed but better word, I guess.

Visit Münferit some time.
Münferit: Firuzağa Mahallesi Yeni Çarşı Caddesi No:19 Beyoğlu
munferit.com.tr 

Before the official opening night, which is only tomorrow night, you’ve been exposed to some insider info (aka pictures) from Münferit, while we tried and tested some of the food (please note that the cheese seen here will not be listed on the menu. The assemblage was just for the obese us), chairs and tables and everything else, including the music and the temperature of the beer stock.

I’m doing this. Biannually…

Any artist who sites Donald Duck and Jesus Christ as the most important influences in their art must be worth taking a look at. - Someone on Gottfied Helnwein

Let me tell you about Gottfried Helnwein. He’s one of the greatest artists of our times to start with. A painter, photographer and many other things… His work falls into the contemporary category. And it’s strange because I don’t usually understand contemporary art, thus I don’t get what’s so great about it (’it’ generally being an abstract piece of artworkkkkk). But Helnwein is different. I get the idea/message behind those shocking images instantly and very clearly, and to me, that should be the way art is served. You shouldn’t need a rocket scientist’s brain to get the picture.

Having born and grown in Vienna right after the WWII, Gottfried Helnwein, for the first time in his childhood life, saw someone smiling in a Donald Duck comic book that his uncle had brought for him. So, now you get the picture. That post-war trauma being so evident in whatever he creates… Even when he draws/photographs children, it is always linked with pain and the betrayal of innocence. Helnwein’s work touches me deeply. Once exposed to one of his paintings or photographs, life is never the same. This is art, if you ask me. Art as we know it. Art as it should be.

Yesterday, something triggered me and I checked his website to see what Helnwein has been doing recently. And there in the ‘news’ section, I screamed at this fantastic piece of information: 

Santralistanbul 01.September 2011
Museum for Contemporary Art, Main Gallery, Istanbul
HELNWEIN – RETROSPECTIVE
The exhibition coincides with the 12th Istanbul Biennial

Yesss!

Today, I want to talk about one particular Emre. He’s Emre Doğru to you – the talented Mr. Photographer. To me, he’s a little bit more than that.  A good and funny friend who thinks a slice of bread is a useful tool while eating food… Let me explain that: Emre loves eating bread (what am I saying, he loves eating whatever is edible) and we try to avoid him whenever we can so that he doesn’t gain any more weight. But he has his own excuses as usual, and says God gave us the bread as a medium to push the food on a plate towards the fork. I once suggested him to try the knife instead and he was not very happy. I love Emre and the way his mind works. It is generally under the influence of his big and loving heart, and that is enough to make him a special person. I don’t exactly know why but I’ve been thinking about Emre a lot this morning and when I found myself in front of my computer, I felt the need to visit his website emredogru.com. I have totally forgotten that I’d written the words for his info text.

The above image of a far-away Emre, me and Seyhan was taken at 20ML’s New Year’s dinner back in 2007. I’m afraid that’s the most recent photo of us (not necessarily Seyhan, but Emre & I) together. How sad… Emre, where art thou? It’s been ages. If I bump into you somewhere, I think I have the right to ask “Emre, right?”