M HKA Ensembles

M HKA, Antwerp

24 March 2025 - 07 September 2025

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Özgür Kar’s artistic practice operates at the intersection of theatre, sound, sculpture and animation. He creates immersive installations that prompt existential reflections on transience, isolation and the cyclical nature of human experience. His distinctive visual language combines minimalist animation with intricate soundscapes and dark humour. By transforming video into sculptural objects, Kar challenges traditional boundaries between the moving image, performance, sculpture and installation, often turning the exhibition space into a kind of suspended theatrical scene.

His works can be seen as contemporary reinterpretations of medieval allegories and traditional animation techniques. He draws inspiration from a diverse range of sources, including medieval manuscripts, minimalist musical compositions and absurdist theatre. The characters in his animations are often trapped in endless loops, delivering soliloquies that resonate with a sense of existential anxiety and absurdity. The sound compositions, created in collaboration with musicians and voice actors, add additional layers of interpretation, deepening the immersive experience of his installations.

The title of the exhibition, Malaise, refers to a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or unease, whose exact cause is difficult to identify. In Malaise, Kar stages the final moments of a giant cockroach, overturned and suspended in a liminal state—neither fully alive nor entirely dead. It mutters to itself, then begins to sing softly, as if clinging to life through the act of speaking. The voice is delicate, trembling, and occasionally fractured. The insect’s body is perfectly framed within the large-scale screen, making the video feel eerily alive—not just an image, but a performer lingering in absence.

Artist: Özgür Kar

Voice Actor: Carly Rose Bedford

Sound design: Arnljótur Sigurðsson

Production assistant: Gabija Nedzinskas

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