Full HD Video – Color – Stereo – 14’49’’ – 2023

Özgür Demirci’s work titled “Since the Beginning”, produced within the scope of the “Anthology of Promises” project, wander between broken promises and forgotten myths. The work “The Abandoned”, in which plants that cannot reach enough water to sustain their existence try to hold on to the soil, is shaped by being left in need of only enough to save the day in return for unfulfilled promises. Where does the source of life that remains after what has been taken from us begin and end? In his work entitled “Since the Beginning”, Demirci seeks the answer by looking at past stories. Feeding on the aspects of myths and false stories that shape human behavior, “Since the Beginning” questions where the world order comes from through the character of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory who creates words to write history. The character walks through ancient cities and listens to the sounds, trying to hear the stories that will unleash the energy the world has lost. What remains of these cities constitute the real stories that try to exist in the world order. Since the false stories told to societies have replaced the true stories, most things seen in these cities are shattered. Those who use words to the detriment of the whole while Mnemosyne is not here, support ideas that trap society with the stories they tell. Words are used in a way that affects the course of history. The destructive effect of all these destroys the city and culture, pushing the real to the bottom layer of the soil. Burned books, and lost words, all related to the origin, are present in the depths of stone, soil, water, and air. With this work, Demirci investigates the origin of the system that shapes and governs society, which causes the world to lose the energy it has today. Understanding how societies have been organized and lived from past to present constitutes the way to develop methods of existence in the face of the system we are in today.