Up before 08:00. Headed down to the Kumquat to get my morning Internet fix. Surprised to see Eda around 10:30. She had been somewhere just outside the city for the last four days. Went over by the mosque to have breakfast on the edge of the Bosphorus at Beltaş. Ships passing by kicked up quite a spray so we were glad there were no seats available right by the edge. Had a toast and water. Was finally able to describe my ideas for the kaleidoscope that she wanted to make with small paintings. Eda got a call from Yeşim wanting to find out where she was. We headed back to the Kumquat so Eda could meet with Yeşim. I worked for a bit longer before Michael showed up. He had just come from the printers with some posters for Yeşim and shirts for our group. Headed back to the house.
Had breakfast at Beltaş with Eda. The ships passed by pretty close and caused quite a bit of spray as their wakes broke against the sea wall.
Michael had a very loud fight on the phone with Yeşim about the poster he was working on. He took off around 14:30 for a meeting with DDF. Puttered around the house fora couple hours before heading down to the bus station to catch a bus to Taksim for our 17:30 meeting with the organizers of Indigo, the Beyoğlu club we will have a residency at for the season. We were a little early and took some photos of the building before Michael showed up to tell us that we were meeting at their offices around the corner. It was a long hike up to their fifth floor offices. The elevator in our building is spoiling us quite nicely. Sat down for an informal chat with Vadı. He had some blueprints and concept renderings for the renovated club. The work was still underway and would be completed for the seasons opening on Sept 30. We talked a bit about the new layout and the three beamers (projectors) we wanted to have, as well as our compensation, the scheduled acts, how long we would play, drink tickets and food. All of the terms were worked out and everyone seemed happy. The season will begin with DJ Hell from Berlin. fALk was not interested in playing as he had done too many shows recently where he was on either before or after Hell. We spent some time on the terrace of their office while a search was conducted for the keys to the club. They were nowhere to be found so a tour of the space was arranged for the following week.
The outside of Indigo and the Cafe Culina across the street with the menu selections written in chalk on the walls.
With Vadı and Cihan, the Indigo organizers.
Renderings of the Indigo renovations for the season.
Artificial Eyes on the Indigo office terrace. The view out toward Sultanahmet.
Michael in his new eye logo shirt. fALk and I reflected in a glass door.
We had an hour to kill between our meeting with the Indigo folks and Osman Productions, who we will do visuals for at a private party. After some deliberation we decided to go to Zencefil, the vegetarian restaurant near Takshim to get some food. Passed by Arhan's place. Had a delicious veggie stew with some fresh pressed grape juice. fALk had a cold yogurt and chickpea soup and Michael had pesto pasta.
The outside of Arhan's place. Enjoying a little veggie stew at Zencefil. Some local color and Michael hamming it up with a basket someone had lowered to have their grocery order filled.
We headed back over near Indigo to Dogz Star, a small little bar/club to meet with Ari and Ege, the promoters of Osman Productions. Michael had given Ari a job at the Advertising Agency he ran a couple of years back and they had become good friends. We got to the bar a bit ahead of the others so fALk and I looked around for a bit. The interior was decorated with ozalit (large scale photocopies) done by Gamze, Michael's first girlfriend in Turkey.
Views of Dogz Star, a bar/club around the corner from Indigo. Lots of ozalit (large-scale photocopies) done by Gamze, Michael's first girlfriend in Istanbul. She calls her work Kop-Art (Broken Art). The masks are made from plastic containers.
Ari and Ege showed up a little bit after we did and we talked with them for a couple of hours. fAlk and Ege talked about the music scenes in Istanbul and Berlin while Michael and Ari caught up. I floated between the two conversations. Seems the Istanbul club scene died in the middle of 2004. All of the good small clubs closed down and were replaced by large clubs that were only looking to make a big profit. Corporate sponsorship meant that expensive foreign DJs could be brought in. There was no more room for local artists and it became prohibitively expensive for the normal club goes to frequent the clubs. A more proletariat crowd became the staple at all the clubs and it ruined the scene. fALk had similar tale from Berlin, where admission prices had gone from 3 Euros to 20 in the last couple of years. Ege's girlfriend Cansu came by a bit later and Michael got her to give us a CD of music she made to listen to for possible inclusion on our DVD project.
Osman Productions (Ari and Ege) with fALk. Michael with Cansu, a local electronic musician.
We wrapped up the Dogz Star section of the evening and headed over to Jackie's Groove a small fourth floor bar where Ari and Ege plan to have their party on September 27th. We took a look around and talked about the logistics. Ari really wanted to bring in a video pyramid that Michael built. Michael was reluctant to set it up at their event because he wanted it to premiere at an opening at Yeşim's gallery in 2006. Terms were finally settled on (Osman Productions would help fund a base for the pyramid) and we headed on our way back to Ortaköy. Michael floated the idea to fALk of renting a movie theater to perform his narrative pieces in, but fALk shot it down. Dropped some of my things at the house and headed down to the Kumquat for an email check. Chatted with Jeff and Josh for a bit before heading back home. In bed by 00:30.
Views of Jackie's Groove, an underground Beyoğlu nightspot. Dig on the Party Vision projector.
Had breakfast at Beltaş with Eda. The ships passed by pretty close and caused quite a bit of spray as their wakes broke against the sea wall.
Michael had a very loud fight on the phone with Yeşim about the poster he was working on. He took off around 14:30 for a meeting with DDF. Puttered around the house fora couple hours before heading down to the bus station to catch a bus to Taksim for our 17:30 meeting with the organizers of Indigo, the Beyoğlu club we will have a residency at for the season. We were a little early and took some photos of the building before Michael showed up to tell us that we were meeting at their offices around the corner. It was a long hike up to their fifth floor offices. The elevator in our building is spoiling us quite nicely. Sat down for an informal chat with Vadı. He had some blueprints and concept renderings for the renovated club. The work was still underway and would be completed for the seasons opening on Sept 30. We talked a bit about the new layout and the three beamers (projectors) we wanted to have, as well as our compensation, the scheduled acts, how long we would play, drink tickets and food. All of the terms were worked out and everyone seemed happy. The season will begin with DJ Hell from Berlin. fALk was not interested in playing as he had done too many shows recently where he was on either before or after Hell. We spent some time on the terrace of their office while a search was conducted for the keys to the club. They were nowhere to be found so a tour of the space was arranged for the following week.
The outside of Indigo and the Cafe Culina across the street with the menu selections written in chalk on the walls.
With Vadı and Cihan, the Indigo organizers.
Renderings of the Indigo renovations for the season.
Artificial Eyes on the Indigo office terrace. The view out toward Sultanahmet.
Michael in his new eye logo shirt. fALk and I reflected in a glass door.
We had an hour to kill between our meeting with the Indigo folks and Osman Productions, who we will do visuals for at a private party. After some deliberation we decided to go to Zencefil, the vegetarian restaurant near Takshim to get some food. Passed by Arhan's place. Had a delicious veggie stew with some fresh pressed grape juice. fALk had a cold yogurt and chickpea soup and Michael had pesto pasta.
The outside of Arhan's place. Enjoying a little veggie stew at Zencefil. Some local color and Michael hamming it up with a basket someone had lowered to have their grocery order filled.
We headed back over near Indigo to Dogz Star, a small little bar/club to meet with Ari and Ege, the promoters of Osman Productions. Michael had given Ari a job at the Advertising Agency he ran a couple of years back and they had become good friends. We got to the bar a bit ahead of the others so fALk and I looked around for a bit. The interior was decorated with ozalit (large scale photocopies) done by Gamze, Michael's first girlfriend in Turkey.
Views of Dogz Star, a bar/club around the corner from Indigo. Lots of ozalit (large-scale photocopies) done by Gamze, Michael's first girlfriend in Istanbul. She calls her work Kop-Art (Broken Art). The masks are made from plastic containers.
Ari and Ege showed up a little bit after we did and we talked with them for a couple of hours. fAlk and Ege talked about the music scenes in Istanbul and Berlin while Michael and Ari caught up. I floated between the two conversations. Seems the Istanbul club scene died in the middle of 2004. All of the good small clubs closed down and were replaced by large clubs that were only looking to make a big profit. Corporate sponsorship meant that expensive foreign DJs could be brought in. There was no more room for local artists and it became prohibitively expensive for the normal club goes to frequent the clubs. A more proletariat crowd became the staple at all the clubs and it ruined the scene. fALk had similar tale from Berlin, where admission prices had gone from 3 Euros to 20 in the last couple of years. Ege's girlfriend Cansu came by a bit later and Michael got her to give us a CD of music she made to listen to for possible inclusion on our DVD project.
Osman Productions (Ari and Ege) with fALk. Michael with Cansu, a local electronic musician.
We wrapped up the Dogz Star section of the evening and headed over to Jackie's Groove a small fourth floor bar where Ari and Ege plan to have their party on September 27th. We took a look around and talked about the logistics. Ari really wanted to bring in a video pyramid that Michael built. Michael was reluctant to set it up at their event because he wanted it to premiere at an opening at Yeşim's gallery in 2006. Terms were finally settled on (Osman Productions would help fund a base for the pyramid) and we headed on our way back to Ortaköy. Michael floated the idea to fALk of renting a movie theater to perform his narrative pieces in, but fALk shot it down. Dropped some of my things at the house and headed down to the Kumquat for an email check. Chatted with Jeff and Josh for a bit before heading back home. In bed by 00:30.
Views of Jackie's Groove, an underground Beyoğlu nightspot. Dig on the Party Vision projector.
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