From Home to Work

From Home to Work takes place in the United States where the artist was residing when a law by the Turkish Government was ratified in August 2018 which enabled Turkish male citizens to reduce the term of their regular military service. During the period of time while the artist was waiting for the announcement of his term and the location of his regiment it was also meant for him to wait for a call that would clarify some certain decisions that would be more impactful in the long-term for his life; leaving the US, career decisions, dealing with job permit and visa status. From Home to Work takes place on a road in Rockville, Maryland on which the artist walks from his home to his work while singing the Turkish Military Oath from a piece of paper repeatedly. Having a trip back home (Turkey) in his mind, the artist walks to work trying to imagine how it would be like to cut his hair, to hold a rifle, and become a soldier. In the wake of important long-term decisions, strangeness haunts the artist on foot during his daily routine. Juxtaposing militaristic words with his everyday walk, From Home to Work reminds the volume of unnecessity, strangeness, unconformity, and dissonance that starts to occupy his head before an experience that is a part of a shared cultural history. Militaristic words that are superimposed on the social life of every male Turkish citizens once in a life time.