Identities Created from Nothingness: Existential Philosophy in the Works of Orhan Cebrailoğlu

In this space and time, existentialism, which emerges from nothingness, is presented based on a deep questioning of the reason for human existence. According to Heidegger, the idea that the individual gains meaning with the concept of “Dasein” is also emphasized. This concept expresses the situation where the person only explains what exists, questions his own existence in some way and tries to make sense of it. The individual can only truly grasp the essence of existence when he is at his own existential limit in his relationship with the world and ultimately realizes his own absolute end. This process of questioning should not only be specific to the individual’s life, but also; in addition to contributing to philosophy, art, science and culture, it necessitates the necessity of giving a deep meaning to the truly “Existential” reason that is in line with the purpose of life. Heidegger's discussion on "being" is seen as a frequently encountered departure in modern art, especially in abstract expressionist artists and existential approaches. The artist defends the truth of the work of art that has the power to express "existence/existential" and to expand into the depths of human experience. In this direction, while Orhan Cebrailoğlu presents his understanding of art, it is necessary to establish a strong connection with the philosophy of Hegel and Heidegger and to analyze his art in this sense. In Cebrailoğlu's art, the loneliness of the individual and the questioning of existentiality draw attention to the absolute end with the art of painting that he presents after the communication established by man with the infinite universe. The Master Artist is seen to present his art on the fiction of a deep existential philosophy that he built on abstract concepts, especially going beyond concrete forms and shapes, and to include the audience in the stage of this fictional space. In Cebrailoğlu's works, he focuses on how the Hegelian "one and many" unity can be addressed and how nothingness and difference reflect existential themes. The abstract forms that Cebrailoğlu uses in his works do not present an order or a semantic nothingness regarding the world. On the other hand, it is seen that he aestheticizes the chaotic and questioning nature of man. During the performance, the artist, who is in motion, presents his art to the audience by creating plastic and aesthetic forms from the colorful paint residues.

Thus, Cebrailoğlu allows the audience to make their own existential interpretation. In his art practice, Cebrailoğlu invites the viewer to gain a multi-layered experience by combining the elements of action-performance and visual arts. The artist's works should not be considered as a visual product alone, but as a process, an event. He emphasizes the innovations he builds on the tension between Hegel's "Nothingness" and Heidegger's "Existential". The artist transcends the traditional boundaries of the white canvas, as if establishing a dialogue with a void, and reveals a new form of existence from the abstractions born from this dialogue. The artist is seen to approach the white surface not as a starting point, but as a dynamic area that reveals the "Existential" truth that occurs in the brain process and soul by negating the empty abstractions of being and non-being.

Keywords

Nothingness and Being, Emptiness and Surface, Truth, Process in Art, Performance art