“Istanbul in January and February of 2016 was rattled by suicide bombings by the Islamic State, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the lingering of a civil war in the East. In midst of all this, I was held at gunpoint by a street robber. This city which I’ve known since my early childhood years and where I walked freely and often on my own, now confronted me on a personal level with what was a common habit in politics. Being bullied into someone else’s wishes and needs.

To Keep That Bit of Physical Distance explores the space that’s left between the barrel of the gun and the body the perpetrator aims at. It is that space which a life depends on.

The drawings are printed by the line blot method onto a whitened weekly Turkish cartoon magazine. Those often highly satirical and political cartoons serve as a backdrop upon which the Yoga-GI Joe’s represent the official soldier, bound by “law and order”, are countered by armed civilians who act upon their own law.” — Beldan Sezen, artist.

The edition includes copies of cartoon magazines that are by now forbidden by the Turkish authorities.