Foreword
Canan Tolon
THE IRONY OF THE TITLE I CHOSE FOR THIS SHOW GAINS IN INTENSITY
with each passing day’s horrific news. Stress and anxiety levels were already reaching an alarming pitch when I started working on this series of paintings. The world was barely recovering from the losses caused by COVID-19, and human interactions were minimal after the global lockdown. As these deep anxieties began to dissipate, the world seemed to plunge further into turmoil and relentless disputes, ultimately bringing about ferocious wars.
I worked outside in the open air, making ‘the weather’ – hence the title –and the prevalent environmental conditions part of the process. Talking ‘about the weather’ has become the safest human interaction. Devoid of intelligence, they are risk-free, awkward silence fillers; safe conversation starters that end as soon as they start, leaving one unaffected by such interactions.
Hannah Arendt’s notion of ‘the banality of evil’ comes to mind. While there is much to worry about these days, including the extremely concerning climate crisis, one may find that talking ‘about the weather’ is not such an innocent combination of absurd empty words after all. Like a murderer who needs to talk about his crime, these are feeble attempts to appease one’s insatiable need to communicate. We should not fool ourselves, however … these are momentary desires to throw pebbles into the vast ocean.
