Faysal Altunbozar, left: Chicago Gears nocturnal flight count , ; right: Chicago Gears cosmic mind fuck , ; photographic print on bull denim, duck canvas, side-release buckles, metal d-rings, nylon webbing, zipper. Photo by Prairie. Faysal Altunbozar creates discrete objects and spatial interventions that layer cultural histories and playful allusions to the body in order to reframe dichotomies of power and pleasure. Both seductive and unpretentious, the visual tactility of these objects invites an extended reflection on what it means to share space when we define ourselves in distinction to an other.
I met Faysal in , shortly after he arrived in Chicago, and through frequent studio visits I witnessed the development of several distinct bodies of work over the course of the next several years. These ideas were most clearly articulated through three exhibitions staged between spring and fall A Vessel, a Veil: New Works by Faysal Altunbozar and Martha Poggioli at Space p11; Interior Irruptions at Amazigh Contemporary; and Teaching a perv how to eat honeysuckle at Prairie.
During my research, I spent most of my time at public parks walking in circles like all the other cruising men. When I came back home I would find rocks, dirt, and sometimes seeds stuck in the cavities of my sneaker soles. I was also aware of the prints I was leaving on mud and sand. The patterns are borrowed from sneaker soles, each carrying different types of seeds: daffodils, rosa mundi, magnolias, morning glory, pokeweed, honeysuckle, and more.
Faysal Altunbozar, Carrier No. DB You mention these public spaces were also the starting point for Teaching a perv to eat honeysuckle , which explored the layered histories of the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary and the Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary, two lakefront greenspaces in Chicago.
Can you give a brief account of these spaces and why you were drawn to them? The lakefront on the North Side is very pedicured except for the occasional rehabilitated prairie areas, and I was seduced by the density of the greenery in these places.
