Iz Öztat is an artist based in Istanbul. She is a member of BAÇOY-KOOP (Printing, Duplication and Distribution Cooperative), a group that utilizes the mimeograph technology for collective, independent publishing in Turkey’s current climate of repression. The cooperative conducts archival research into mimeographed printed material and dialogues with the technology’s previous generation of users – investigations that lead to collectively-produced printed matter, actions and installations. She is a collaborator in HTTPpRESS, an online platform that publishes content with free/libre licences or notices. With Fatma Belkıs, she explores the convergence of water and freedom, and she communes with the shade of Zişan (1894 – 1970) who appears to her as a historical figure, a channeled spirit and an alter ego. She has taught at Oberlin College (USA) as a Visiting Professor.
Selected exhibitions include Tamawuj, Sharjah Biennial 13, United Arab Emirates (2017); Land without Land, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany (2016); Saltwater: A Theory of Thought Forms, 14th Istanbul Biennial (2015); Conducted in Depth and Projected at Length, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany (2014); Rendez-vous 13, Institut d’art Contemporain, Lyon, France (2013); and Here Together Now, Matadero Madrid, Spain (2013).
Image 1: Constituting an Island, Iz Oztat, 2014, Video still from single channel HD video, 1' 46'' Loop
Image 2: Will Flow Free / Who Carries The Water, Iz Oztat and Fatma Belkis, 2015, Wood-printed naturally-dyed muslin, Dedicated to the public domain
Image 3: Who Carries The Water, Iz Oztat and Fatma Belkis, 2015, A page from the 19-page text, reproduced by mimeograph, Copyleft
