Erdem Taşdelen is a Turkish-Canadian artist who currently lives and works in Toronto. His practice is rooted in conceptualism and involves a range of media, including installation, video, sculpture, sound and artist books. His diverse projects bring structures of power into question within the context of culturally learned behaviours, where he often draws from unique historical narratives to address the complexities of current sociopolitical issues.

Last time we met with Erdem right before I moved to London, he was visiting Istanbul. We met in a local wine bar in Taksim and had such a laugh over many memories, and we thought we were going to meet in London since he was invited to a residency at Delfina Foundation, but then well, many things changed. Today this is the first time we had a chat after a year, and we talked about how this last year affected our practices, also his recent exhibition and ongoing works and many other things. Please don't forget to check out the episode notes below for the links mentioned during our conversation.

Notes for the podcast:

A Minaret for the General's Wife walkthrough video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9OKXGBFSFA

A Minaret for the General's Wife images: http://www.erdemtasdelen.com/minaret.html

The Characters images: http://www.erdemtasdelen.com/characters.html

Bina by Anakana Schofield: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/555535/bina-by-anakana-schofield/9780735273221

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/603656/drive-your-plow-over-the-bones-of-the-dead-by-olga-tokarczuk-translated-by-antonia-lloyd-jones/

South Korean Quarantine Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8xOE-4d-RM&ab_channel=earthbyellie 

------- CC STATION cover art and intro sound design by Berlin-based artist Zeynep Özkazanç aka zoka @zozkazoz