Diren Demir (Istanbul, Turkey): Skin is Holy

“Skin is Holy” Performance by Diren Demir Influenced by Allen Ginsberg\’s precious work “Howl”, Diren questions the themes of “Holyness” and “Body” through this poem by writing the word “Holy” on their own skin throughout the performance. This is accompanied by repetitive sounds where Diren turns the word “Holy” into a mantra and carries their mental process to the experience of “ecstasy” through this word used by Ginsberg. Chanting any word over and over is an ancient technique to stop the existing functioning of the mind and gain deep experiences in consciousness. By choosing the word “Holy” on this path, Diren tries to connect with the pioneers of queer literature and explores the concept of “Holyness” from this deep state of consciousness. Pencil strokes drawn on the body question body autonomy. These colors in the body creates a new form of painting. The performance, is an attempt to create a new “sacred”.

Diren Demir (Istanbul, 1997) is an Interdisciplinary artist and writer. Diren focuses on destroying the toxic-masculine culture or creating transforming solutions in their artworks. The theme of “disclosure” can be seen frequently in Diren’s works. Body – rulership relationships are one of the areas of conflict when Diren uses the context of disclosure. They usually use the “pure existence” of their own body relating it to public nudism. In addition to the queer-themed work that Diren uses the body context while demolishing stereotypical gender prisons; at the same time, Diren aims to de-genderize the memory of the place and the city by referring to the history of LGBTIQ+ in their writing and research works. ARTIST’S WEBSITE