Confused Examination Under Given Circumstances (2021)

Confused Examination Under Given Circumstances 2020 revisits a John Ruskin lecture titled On the Elements of Crystallization and Freuds crystalprinciple to draw parallels between the rigidity of crystals and the disciplinary procedures of governments Öztat weaves her lecture through interludes of crystalfondling and crystallicking testing the sharp erotic edges of the mineral as her 3D models melt into stringy jellyfishlike forms After guiding viewers through paintings Xrays and scientific documents on the subject the artists hand enters a black glove and yanks a trapezoidal hunk of ersatz schairerite out of the frame Öztats study reflects the shows interest in crystals as shapeshifting organisms and emblems for the liquid borders between ancestral cultures and modernity between translucence and opacity