Pınar Öğrenci, Only dead fish go with the flow, 2017, Multi-channel Video Installation
In the video installation titled Only dead fish go with the flow, Öğrenci depicts the migration of pearl mullet, which, every Spring, travel from the alkaline waters of Lake Van to freshwater rivers in order to reproduce.
Every year, around mid-April when waters start warming up, the mullets start migrating towards river mouths and try to adjust their body temperatures to the fresh water. From early May until the end of June, pearl mullets start their difficult journey up the streams, and develop skills such as flying in order to overcome the obstacles on their way. In the installation brought together using the furnitures from her house, Öğrenci attempts to approach notions of sustaining one’s species, survival struggle, resistance, migration and forced migration through the metaphor of a natural phenomenon.