Artist Statement

My recent work involves the reclaiming disposable objects in mass to create two and three dimensional works. Pieces can involve tea bags, matchbook strikes, plastic cutlery, etc. These items are generally disregarded and ignored by the everyday person. Through the gathering of the discards of contemporary culture, I ask the viewer to reconsider the function and value of these objects. I also reassign their value by re-contextualizing them by creating a piece of art from them. Besides utilizing the formal issues that interest me, based in the Minimalist school, I also am making a commentary on the disposable nature of contemporary culture.- David Poppie

Come to the opening this Friday, June 1, 6-8pm, at the Pavel Zoubok Gallery,

(533 West 23rd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues.)

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I have perused many editorial cartoons related to the demise of “Big Jerry”- and I have not seen one yet that has it right. If he is off to heaven, then that is further proof that this place, if it does exist, is not the address I want to check-in to when I checkout.

On Wednesday, after a week of political turmoil,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
called for early parliamentary elections to calm
his political opponents and the reverse the growing
unrest in the military ranks.

The trouble in Turkey started last Friday when the
Prime Minister’s Islamic-oriented Justice and
Development Party voted in parliament to nominate
Abdullah Gal for president.

Mr. Gal currently holds the post of foreign minister,
and is a close ally of Mr. Erdogan. The secular
opposition parties, led by the Republican People’s
Party, boycotted the parliamentary election due to
Mr. Gal’s strong Islamic roots. In Turkey, the
president is the highest-ranking government official,
and is elected by Parliament. This post allows for
command over the military, the ability to veto
legislation, the appointment of judges and university
deans and final say over cabinet selections. The term
lasts for seven years, giving the president plenty of
time to implement his will.

The opposition took the matter to Turkey’s secular-
leaning constitutional court, claiming that the vote
for Mr. Gal was invalid because a quorum of two-
thirds of parliament’s 550 legislators was not reached.

The court, to no one’s surprise, ruled on Tuesday with
a 9-2 majority to block the candidacy of the Justice
and Development Party because of the insufficient
number of parliamentarians present for the vote.
The decision seemed inconsistent with recent Turkish
election history due to the fact that presidents have
been elected with even fewer lawmakers present in
the legislative chamber.

The court was formed after a military coup in 1960,
and is assigned the task of interpreting the constitution,
which has the defense of secularism at its core. There
have been four military coups since the formation of
the court, the last one was in 1997 against a cabinet
in which Mr. Gal served. Secularism has been the rule
of the day in Turkey since the state was formed in 1923
after the Ataturk revolution, in the wake of the end of
World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
The military has once again threatened to keep Islamic
influence out of political affairs, and the court they
have established is adding more pressure to the
current government to keep Ataturks’s vision alive.

As a result of the court’s ruling and the unveiled
threats by the Turkish military, Prime Minister Erdogan
on Wednesday called for early parliamentary elections.
According to a report in the Washington Post, he
described the court’s decision as “a bullet aimed at
democracy”.

The Prime Minister’s decision to obey the rule of law
has calmed financial markets set ablaze earlier in the
week by the unfolding political crisis. But the battle
lines have been drawn between the secular elites and
the growing influence of the Islamic-leaning Justice
and Development Party. Since assuming the
parliamentary majority in 2002, Mr. Erdogan’s party
has helped to put Turkey on a path marked by strong
economic growth and improved living standards.
Mr. Erdogan is also trying very hard to gain entry
into the E.U., which should allay some of the concerns
held by secular opponents at home and in Europe.

However, there are many who criticize the Prime
Minister’s failure to take the concerns of the secular
community seriously enough. Turkey is a vital link
between the West and the Middle East. It is a pre-
dominantly Muslim nation, yet values secularism
and the rule of law. Women are given educational
and economic opportunities unmatched elsewhere
in Islamic societies. Turkey is also a member of NATO,
and provides vital logistical support to US operations
in Iraq.

The tactics of the opposition, the courts and the
military to protect secularism at all costs show
very little regard for democratic institutions.
Mr. Erdogan and his party need to reach out to
the secular population and incorporate them into
policy decisions, but he has shown a respect for
the rule of law and is abiding by democratic
principals. Turkey is an essential bridge between
the West, the Middle East and the Islamic world
at large. Now is not the time for reflexive actions,
and the threat of a military coup in the defense of
secularism will only inflame the region and set
Turkey spiraling backward.

© Greg Strid 2007