Iz Öztat (OC 2005)

Turkish, b. 1981

BiographyIz Öztat (Istanbul, 1981) lives in Istanbul. She is a member of BAÇOY-KOOP (Printing, Duplication and Distribution Cooperative), a group that utilizes the mimeograph technology for collective, independent publishing in Turkey’s current climate of repression. The cooperative conducts archival research into mimeographed printed material and dialogues with the technology’s previous generation of users – investigations that lead to collectively-produced printed matter, actions and installations. She is a collaborator in HTTPpRESS, an online platform that publishes content with free/libre licences or notices. . She is friends with Fatma Belkıs, with whom she explores the convergence of water and freedom. She has been engaged in an untimely collaboration with Zişan (1894 – 1970) who appears to her as a historical figure, channeled spirit and an alter ego.

Selected exhibitions include Tamawuj, Sharjah Biennial 13, United Arab Emirates (2017); Land without Land, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany (2016); Saltwater: A Theory of Thought Forms, 14th Istanbul Biennial (2015); Conducted in Depth and Projected at Length, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany (2014); Rendez-vous 13, Institut d’art Contemporain, Lyon, France (2013); and Here Together Now, Matadero Madrid, Spain (2013).

İz Öztat was an Ellen Johnson Visiting Artist and Affiliate Scholar at Oberlin College during the 2016-2017 academic year. During her stay she taught three module courses (Articulating Artistic Methods for Research-based Practice, Archive as Form and Content, Writing as/of Art), performed a public lecture, met with students for studio visits, and created an editioned print for the rental collection of the Allen Memorial Art Museum.