Needless Monsters

Burcu Yagcioglu studied at Goldsmiths University MA on Fine Art and finished her studies in 2010, after graduating from Sabanci University VAVCD. Yagcioglu, currently residing in London, has exhibited both nationally and internationally in galleries, museums and biennials throughout her career. Yagcioglu’s second solo show at C.A.M. Gallery opens at 28th of March.

“In the preface of “The Book of Imaginary Beings” Jorge Lois Borges defines the dragon as a necessary monster, not an accidental or ephemeral one, on account of its being a type of imaginary being which is encountered in various times and places.

What is the necessity of a monster? Where the unnecessary, short-lived monsters that tend to fade away like dream images, can be placed in personal and cultural memory? You can either think of monsters who are the pinnacles of all the monsters, such as the dragon, Frankenstein’ monster or the Kraken, or you can think of the ones who are born out of a dream or boredom and whose life span depend on the value their owners attach to them; regardless from the type, the production of imaginary beings has a significant function of both writing and preserving the personal and collective memory. This may be the reason why we come across imaginary being productions in all the cultures and eras. This also gives an insight about the contemporary culture’s fascination with the fantasy literature and cinema.

Monsters and the ancient or newly written mythologies attached to them provides a space to experience which allows us to reconsider who is the subject and who is not, what lives and what doesn’t, what is real and what is fiction.”

The exhibition ‘Needless Monsters’ aims to preserve some of the ephemeral monsters and at the same time aims to open up a space for this type of experience.”

“Needless Monsters” can be seen at C.A.M. Gallery Akaretler between 28 March and 28 April.