Emrah Altınok
area: Literature
Key Facts
nationality
Turkeyarea
Literatureresidence
Istanbulrecommending institution
BMeiAtime period
July 2013 - July 2013Poet Altınok who is currently residing in Istanbul was born in 1980 in Ağrı (Turkey). He grew up in various cities of Anatolia with a strong, inspirational influence from his Middle Eastern Anatolian grandparents. His childhood memories are full of traditional songs (türkü) sang by his grandmother and poems read by his grandfather. After he received his PhD degree from Yıldız Technical University in 2012, he started working as an Asst. Prof. at Istanbul
Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture. In addition to his academic carrier, he works as a freelance photographer, designs books for “160. Kilometre” publishing company.
As a poet, he has three poetry awards and three published books in Turkey. His poems were published in several literature magazines such as Heves, Mahfil, Ücra, Kitap-lık, Varlık, E, Üç Nokta, Kum, Ağır Ol Bay Düz Yazı, Ünlem, Islık, Başka, Yaba, Kavram Karmaşa, for more than ten years.
He also led a personal poetry fanzine project called “gak” which released up to seven volumes between January 2007 and November 2008. Within this project, he used the name “Franko Buskas” as a pseudonym and he defined his writings as “the broken poems”. Some critics found “the broken poems” published in “gak” during this nearly two years’ time as a reflection of an innovative and avant-garde attitude. During his journey of “gak”, besides “the broken poems”, Franko Buskas has also performed in different fields of art, so that he could associate these performances with his poetry. This process began with “the blast” which could be interpreted as reflections of an unconscious state and pre-production period of “broken poetry”. The inscriptions of “the blast” appeared in early volumes of the fanzine. These inscriptions that look like drawing and handwriting evoked some works of Roland Barthes and Henri Michaux. In addition, he made some audio recordings that were more of like audio poems of a delirious mind along with “the blast”. Beginning with the release of “gak” vol.5, he started to make stencils in different streets of Istanbul. The stencils that called “proactive poetry” by Buskas had significance on bringing poetry to the streets and provided new poetic collective experiences. Franko Buskas has questioned the poetic expression, breaking it and focusing on reconstructing it with different instruments until the very last volume of “gak”. The way he approaches the poetic issues with a wide perspective, which reaches from philosophy to politics, from anthropology
to sociology and even to economics, also his creating a new world by using a very surprising language has aroused considerable interest.
Altınok is also keen on music. He is the founder of a psychedelic rock band “etreh” which has been making improvisational psychedelic rock music since 2005. Their sound is along the lines of a swooning, passing out musical “zikr”, and is more about mood and atmosphere than virtuosity or complexity.
As a fine-art photographer, he has staged numerous exhibitions and featured in several of worldwide magazines including JPG, Default and Yeah Magazines.
Education
2012 PhD [Defended: 23.01.2012] - Yıldız Technical University, İstanbul, Turkey
Thesis Title: The Political Economy of Reorganization of Urban Space and Interventions on Urban Land Tenure The Case of Mass Housing Administration (MHA) & Istanbul in Post-2000 Period
2006 Master of Science - Yıldız Technical University, İstanbul, Turkey
Thesis Title: Depletion of Transformation Capacities in Illegally Urbanized Areas and Urban Poverty The Celiktepe Example
2002 Bachelor of Science - Dokuz Eylul University, İzmir, Turkey
Major in City and Regional Planning
Poetry Books
”Çöt Mendime Görsektimi Vuru?” [using the name “Franko Buskas” as a pseudonym], October 2010, Norgunk Publishing, Istanbul. [ISBN: 978 975 8686-55-1]
"2048", Pan Publishing, June 2009, Istanbul. [ISBN: 978-9944-396-62-2]
“Aradaki", Çınar Publishing, November 2005, Istanbul. [ISBN: 975-348-200-0]
Poetry Awards
Melih Cevdet Anday Poetry Award, first place, 2003.
Rıfat Ilgaz Poetry Award, first place, 2003.
Yaşar Nabi Nayır Poetry Award, honorable mention, 2003.
Workshops
“Improvisation Workshop [photography / music / design]", Bi-sürü - Zıvanadan Çık, Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Architecture, February 15-19, 2012, İstanbul. [led by Emrah Altınok]
“Untaken Photographs", Fkare Photography Festival, Yıldız Technical University, June 20-25, 2011, İstanbul. [led by Emrah Altınok]
“The Aesthetics of the Broken [poetry / music / design]", Kayıt-dışı, Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Architecture, February
7-12, 2011, İstanbul. [led by Emrah Altınok, Ece Sarıyüz, Christoph Höfferl]
Selected Academic Publications
Altınok, E. & Enlil, Z., (2012). "The Political Economy of Reorganization of Space", Sigma 4; 37-44, 2012, Istanbul.
Altınok, E., (2009). “A Capacity Building Model for Urban Renewal Processes In the Condition of 5366 Law”,Mapping Forced Evictions in Istanbul, International Workshop with ETH Zurich Department of ArchitectureGraduate Students, Rotterdam Architecture Biennial Commission, Tutun Deposu - İstanbul. [invited lecturer]
Altınok, E. & Cengiz, H., (2008). “The Effects of Urban Sprawl on Spatial Fragmentation and Social Segregation in İstanbul”, ISoCaRP 44th International Planning Congress: Urban Growth without Sprawl: A Way Towards Sustainable
Urbanization, September 19-23, 2008, Dalian-China.
[Paper Published]
Altınok, E., (2010). “Could ‘Culture’ be an opportunity for Yenikapı?”, Regeneration and Renewal in the Historical District, Yenikapı - İstanbul, International Workshop, March 28 – April 1, 2010, Yildiz Technical University Faculty of Architecture Department of City and Regional Planning, İstanbul.
[Invited Lecture]
Music
Live concert performance, The Band Etreh feat. Christoph Höfferl, February 11, 2011, Indigo, İstanbul.
Live concert performance, The Band Etreh, February 19, 2012, Indigo, İstanbul.
Live concert performance, The Zonnhaider’s Club feat. Emrah Altınok, February 8, 2011, Peyote, İstanbul.
Live concert performance, The Zonnhaider’s Club feat. Emrah Altınok, February 6, 2011, Gram, İstanbul.
Photography
Photos in JPG Magazine, Issue 26. <link http: www.jpgmag.com magazine>www.jpgmag.com/magazine/26
Photos in Yeah Magazine, Winter 2010. <link http: www.yeahmag.bigcartel.com>www.yeahmag.bigcartel.com
Photos & Interview in Babylon Magazine, Vol:5. <link http: www.babylon.com.tr en>
www.babylon.com.tr/en/homepage
Photos & Interview in 46 Magazine, July 2010. <link http: www.46magazine.com>www.46magazine.com
Photos & Interview in .default magazine, #02. <link http: www.defaultmagazine.com eng>www.defaultmagazine.com/eng
Cover Photos in LeCool Magazine, Vol:131, 132, 138, 151, 207. <link http: www.lecool.com>www.lecool.com
Exhibition, How Much Contemporary Art Project, March 17 – April 3, 2010, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Contributing photographer in Facity Project for Istanbul, 2008-2010. <link http: www.facity.com>www.facity.com
Designed Books
Ahmet Güntan, şiirgeldikelimedeboğuldu., 160. Kilometre Publishing, October 2012, İstanbul.
Erhan Altan, Ölçü Kaçarken, 160. Kilometre Publishing, October 2012, İstanbul.
Ali Özgür Özkarcı, Yetmez Ama Hayır, 160. Kilometre Publishing, October 2012, İstanbul.
Mehmet Davut Özdal, Mehmet Molla, 160. Kilometre Publishing, October 2012, İstanbul.
Mehmet Said Aydın, Kusurlu Bahçe, 160. Kilometre Publishing, October 2012, İstanbul.
Osman Çakmakçı, Aşağılık Sanat, 160. Kilometre Publishing, February 2012, İstanbul.
Efe Murad, def-beyin, 160. Kilometre Publishing, February 2012, İstanbul.
Cem Uzungüneş, Korkuluk, 160. Kilometre Publishing, February 2012, İstanbul.
Aslı Serin, bu benim.zip, 160. Kilometre Publishing, February 2012, İstanbul.
Ömer Şişman, hata devam ediyor, 160. Kilometre Publishing, February 2012, İstanbul.
Cem Kurtuluş, sürün cem e, 160. Kilometre Publishing, March 2012, İstanbul.
Güven Turan, Kuleden Bakmak, 160. Kilometre Publishing, March 2012, İstanbul.
Links
Personal Website: <link http: www.emrahaltinok.com>www.emrahaltinok.com
Academia: <link http: bilgi.academia.edu emrahaltinok>bilgi.academia.edu/EmrahALTINOK
Photography: <link http: www.productionparadise.com member istanbul emrah-altinok.html>www.productionparadise.com/member/istanbul/emrah-altinok.html, <link http: www.flickr.com photos etreh>www.flickr.com/photos/etreh
Music: <link http: www.last.fm music etreh>www.last.fm/music/etreh, <link http: www.myspace.com thebandetreh>www.myspace.com/thebandetreh
Design: <link http: www.behance.net ealtinok>www.behance.net/ealtinok, <link http: www.kitapkapagitasarim.tumblr.com>www.kitapkapagitasarim.tumblr.com
I made new inscriptions that look like drawing and handwriting evoked some works of Roland Barthes and Henri Michaux. Also as a continuous works of my past project "proactive poetry" which was taken place in Istanbul between 2007-2009, I produced a new stencil in Street Art Passage Vienna by using the name "Franko Buskas" as a pseudonym. The stencil that I call “open poetry” has significance on bringing poetry to streets and provided new poetic collective experiences. Basically one or two lines of a poem is the starting point for a collaborative poem writing process. People can add their own words and remake the poem. Then they scan the QR code next to the stencil on the wall and found the projects blog (<link http: www.openpoetry.tumblr.com>www.openpoetry.tumblr.com) on the internet. If they take its picture and send to the given e-mail address, I can post their poetic urban intervention on my blog.
As a second project, I was invited to write a text for the Vienna Soundwalks event (Wiener Soundspaziergänge - <link http: www.textfeldsuedost.com _blank external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>www.textfeldsuedost.com/wiener-soundspazierg%C3%A4nge/). I've been planning to design it a fiction text as "prose poetry" (in contrary to an abstract poetry, an hybrid diction between narration and poetry) which will take place in Karlsplatz. I've been in Karlsplatz for many times to make some research for my text, take photos and notes. I finished the draft in Vienna, now the writing process is still going on.