Anyone can be a stranger. Especially when everyone else is normal. And sometimes being a stranger makes everything else seems strange.
In the official Dutch immigration lingo, “foreigner” is translated as “vreemdeling” which literally means “stranger” But what is so strange about someone who is not from here?
In this series, which aims to be an extensive story in different media, I combine my experience as a foreigner who moved to Amsterdam a while ago and my love for humorous observation. I depict everyday moments that are undeniably ordinary for locals, yet extremely unusual for someone from outside. In this case this someone is a humanoid dog called Garip. Garip is a Turkish word that is hard to translate, as it combines the meanings of strange, miserable, and foreign. Using monsters as Garip’s interpretations of strangers’ behaviours, I materialise two sides of the local vs foreigner discussion.
6 second looping animation
Installation with print on plexiglass layers (147cm x 85cm x 9cm)
9 second looping animation
Installation with print on plexiglass layers (65cm diameter x 10cm)
Board game, based on “Guess Who?” This version of the game is designed to reflect the demographic characteristics of Amsterdam's residents, ranging in age from 10 to 90, across various ethnicities, genders, and age groups. It scales down the proportions of a population nearing 1 million to just 24 cards. Demographic data for this adaptation is sourced from the StatLine databank.
