Olası Her Rüya
Leyla Emadi & Rafet Arslan
05 - 27.06.2020
Curator Meryem Tasyar & Kübranur Simsek
Vision Art Platform, the first exhibition held in its new venue opened in Teşvikiye, 'Every Possible She is happy to present the works of Leyla Emadi and Rafet Arslan with the audience with " Rüya". In the exhibition, which focuses on works in which concepts such as freedom, necessity and will question human will in the context of history and ethics, the artists reveal a cognitive concept of will in the face of domination and manipulation methods in different geographies, cultures and times.
According to creation myths, humanity determines its own destiny when Adam and Eve pluck the forbidden fruit. Expelled from heaven, human beings imprison themselves in an irreversible sin as a result of their free will. But why did God, who created the best of all possible worlds and is omniscient, allow Adam even though he knew he would commit original sin?
The human being, who constantly moves in the mechanism of thinking, judging, reasoning, sensing, imagining and comparing in daily life, makes a choice or takes a decision almost every moment. This is where the concept of 'will', which dates back to ancient Greece, comes into play. As a result of this complex thought process, when a person decides on an action, the will governs the point of application or not. A conscious decision is put into action with the freedom of will.
When we look at Ancient Greece, where it is believed that even the gods have a destiny, we encounter a fatalistic mentality that does not include willpower. Socrates says that 'man has a will that enables him to choose between good and evil, but because man is rational and intelligent by nature, he will necessarily choose the good'.
Epicurus, for the first time in history, asserts that human beings have a completely free will. When Democritus explained the will with atoms, he stated that 'atoms do not always act according to the laws of nature, every atom can show an action similar to free will'. According to the Stoics, while the universal will is nature itself, there is no will according to Spinoza: 'The reason's decision to act is due to infinite causes that require each other retroactively.'
Schopenhauer, who is accepted as the founder of the doctrine of willism, states that the will is the life force and the mind is at the service of this will. The power in question is not conscious and can do whatever it wants. However, according to the French thinker Descartes, “Will consists in doing what the mind suggests to us or escaping from them. We act without feeling any compelling external influence.” Kant, who divided the concept of will into two, defined the will towards good as a good wish, and the will directed towards evil as a bad wish. According to Leibniz, an evil will is a will that God allows to be abused. Leibniz thinks that 'God condoned evil for the sake of greater good, and created this world as a space where people can develop morally by using their will'.
But what really is will? Is there a will? Is will, seen as a product of rationality, knowledge, experience and self-education, Adam's incompetence? Does man have freedom of will in daily doings? Is it inherent in nature, as objective voluntarists argue? Or is it an individual power inherent in human nature, as subjective voluntarists argue? Or is will a faculty that is the product of people's social experience and knowledge?
But is it possible to create the best world with free will today?
Leyla Emadi
Rafet Arslan
