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Guy Martin on TV Plots vs. Political Plots

Through October 27 Guy Martin’s “The Parallel State” is on view at Pattern in Denver, Colorado. What began as an exploration of the Turkish soap opera and film industry, “The Parallels State” evolved into a five-year study of “truth, reality and lies in contemporary Turkey,” states the press release. Created during the same period that saw the rise of totalitarian rule in Turkey, “The Parallel State” resonates deeply with recent political affairs in America.

Once a uniquely Turkish phrase, “the parallel state” has become an adage for power grabs, populist rhetoric, and a police state on the hunt for an unfixed yet ever-present enemy. With polarizing political movements on the rise in the U.S and the U.K. (and beyond), Martin’s series, with its focus on Turkey, provides potent insight into the ways authoritarianism is sewn into the fabric of a society. “The deliberate shattering of citizens’ sense of security, community, and ability to distinguish between fact and fiction ensures only one state-approved narrative prevails,” explains Pattern.

In Turkey, TV shows that previously expressed nostalgic and socially progressive visions of the country have refocused their storylines to emphasize subversive power plots by state operatives, collusion by foreign powers, and terrorist attacks by the Kurdish PKK and Islamic State.

Ultimately “The Parallel State” serves as a timely vision of how authoritarianism can thrive in a society plagued by doubt and divisive falsehoods, segregated into heroes and villains, and deprived of access to facts.

Pattern is a gallery, photobook library and artist space in Denver, Colorado, cofounded by Benjamin Rasmussen and Nish Nalbandian.

“The Parallel State”
By Guy Martin
Pattern
Through October 27, 2019

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