The curator of the exhibition İpek Yeğinsü examines the themes and motifs of the artists' work and the context in which they were made:

Reflex is the general term defining involuntary responses produced in the face of an outside stimulus. This system facilitating survival through swift action, takes its name from the Latin word “reflectere”, meaning “to reflect, to send back”. Some reflexes are controlled by the spinal cord and are inborn (coughing, blinking, etc.). Others are acquired later and are controlled by the brain; they are defined as “conditioned reflex” (riding a bicycle, swimming, etc.).

Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov whose name is identified with conditioned reflex is well known for the experiments he conducted with dogs. However, he also accomplished another less well known and very important research. He explained the timing of the responses to stress and pain with four different temperaments: phlegmatic (strong, equilibrated and quiet), choleric (strong and impatient), sanguine (strong, equilibrated and lively), and melancholic (weak). According to Pavlov these four temperaments react similarly to stimuli; however, at what stage the individuals experience “transmarginal inhibition (TMI)”, in other words, when their bodies shut down as a response to extreme stress and pain, is different among the temperaments. Melancholic types arrive to the TMI stage earlier than the others and their nervous system is evidently different from theirs. The research that Carl Jung took over also concluded that introverted individuals reach the TMI stage much earlier with respect to others.

If our reflexes are so deeply correlated with conditioning and even with our temperament, how shall we evaluate our decisions? Scientific studies on decision mechanisms define this process as a problem solving act with a satisfactory solution as its outcome. According to the advocants of rational choice theory, the basic principle is to maximize the reward and to minimize the cost. But other specialists argue that decisions can be rationally, irrationally, or even unconsciously taken. This is due to the fact that the loaded information necessary for us to understand our choices is much more intense than we can manage, and the time dedicated to the decisionmaking process is very limited. Under these conditions, the mind is obliged to decide with a pace that can be considered a reflex, without taking into account the complexity of the issue. In fact, the decision’s quality is negatively correlated with the amount of information its decision making process necessitates. Some scientists define this form of decision making that disregards information as “intuitive”. As a matter of fact, overanalyzing a problem is also considered unhealthy, since it paralyzes or completely disables the decision making process. When family structure, cultural background, education, religious belief, social circles, geographical position and other similar parameters are added into this equation, we may realize how complicated our decision making mechanisms are, and how difficult it is to even understand ourselves.

In that case, do our decisions really belong to us? Or are they the result of behavioral patterns being imposed on us from the day we are born? How do unconsciously acquired prejudices affect our choices? REFLEX is searching for the answers in works by eleven different artists. It brings side by side the situations where our decisions are essentially no more complex than an inborn reflex, with those in which we have to struggle with vital choices for self realization. Wishing that REFLEX generates an occasion for every viewer to reconsider his or her life, choices and decisions.

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Many numbers we watch at the circuses are based on conditioned response. Animals learn to do them either in the presence of a stimulus they dislike or by being deprived of a necessity. Even though it seems entertaining to the spectator, this process is extremely coercive and painful for the animal. Yet the show goes on and the pain is skilfully hidden behind frozen smiles. Thanks to The Circus and The Elephant by Yasemin Cengiz Çağatay, this feeling gets deep into our bones. The colorful and chaotic bulk on top of which an elephant is sitting is on the one hand reminiscent of childlike fun, and of the lava of an exploded volcano, dispersed internal organs, city dumping grounds on the other. With a closer look we can distinguish many details: the clown, the alien-like portrait and the acrobat standing on his head are only some. They also seem to have been dispersed by a sudden explosion; still, they continue to do their numbers to entertain people. The elephant’s position in the composition is vital: even though not exactly at the top of the bulk or dominant over the situation, he has managed to establish a certain distance with it and to have survived it. He is tired and wounded; but not defeated. Çağatay’s elephant is reminiscent of strong individuals with dignity who managed to stand up still in their seemingly entertaining lives full of complications and difficulties. The society we live in is actually no different from a circus. Full of fake smiles and cheerfulness at first sight; looking closer, merciless and apathetic. Just like a circus trains animals, life trains each one of us by putting us to the test with a variety of coercive experiences; the life of the individual who is obliged to keep the show going on passes in an endless struggle and he is pushed into decisions adaptable to conditions, rather than to his own will.

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