Present and absent

Are people still self-determined when they expose themselves unchecked to the consumption of clothing? The internationally renowned performance artist Nezaket Ekici examines this question in her most recent long-duration performance. During her ten-month scholarship stay at the German Academy Villa Massimo in Rome in 2016/17, the artist presented herself each day in new clothes that she purchased from the innumerable public clothing vendors in Rome and recorded as a photo in front of her Studio 1. Ekici wore the clothes the entire day and consequently interrogated her own identity. In photos and texts, the accompanying publication shows how the artist approached the question of her own identity emotionally using over 500 pieces of clothing.