Dream Artist

Selim was walking with cautious steps through a multi-story maze that managed to surprise him every time with its moving floors, hidden elevators, and shifting walls. When the door of the exhibition hall appeared in front of him, he thought that he was on a lucky evening, because he liked to spend time in this room.

He sat on the burgundy armchair in the exhibition hall and watched the paintings on the opposite wall. There were screens on the wall that alternately showed paintings by painters such as Cezanne, Chagall, Dali, Matisse, Kahlo, Klimt. After looking at the pictures for a long time, he went through the open door into the next room. The floor covering, walls, and ceiling were white in this new room. He sat down on the black armchair in the center of the room, which looked like a massage chair. He put on his head what looked like an astronaut's cap, which was on the coffee table next to the seat. When no image appeared, he pressed the only button on the seat. He heard a laugh and a three-dimensional image of a clown appeared in front of his eyes. Then he watched images like a gurgling waterfall, tragic accidents recorded with traffic cameras, murder and injury scenes, birth videos, surgery recordings, eagles flying freely over the mountains, erupting volcanoes, chase scenes from movies, glaciers crumbling and collapsing with a terrifying noise. The images continued with snapshots such as the sunrise on the horizon, porn movie fragments, night city landscapes, hunting images of wild animals.

When the session was over, Selim took off his headgear and got up; through the first door that opened, he passed into a room furnished in the style of the 70s. On the walls were posters of such legendary soloists as Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, and Janis Choplin. The room swayed and shifted, and he went through the door and stepped to another room with a large bed in it.

While passing through the door, he met the menacing gaze of a blue-eyed, black panther. Looking at his shiny black hair, snow-white teeth, and ice-blue eyes, he thought for a moment about what to do. The panther sprung up, roaring, and pounced on him. His heart was beating fast as he involuntarily retreated. The long-chain that the panther was attached to snapped tight and jingled. Selim felt the breath of the roaring panther on his face where he had fallen; he hastily retreated and secured himself. The service android that appeared at the door approached the panther and said, "Stop!" He made patted his head and took him away from Selim by holding the chain. Selim sat on the edge of the bed and waited for a while for his breathing and heart rhythm to return to normal.

Moments later, a smaller android than the one that took the panther entered the room with a full glass in hand. “Your sleep cocktail is ready,” he said and handed the glass to Selim. Selim took the glass and sipped the red liquid inside. He took the bonnet covered with electronic circuits from the coffee table, put it on his head, took off his shoes, and lay down on the bed. Colorful planetary images appeared on the ceiling of the room. The planetary images soon gave way to a starry skyscape that looked like it had been shot on a clear night. He calmed down and slept while watching the stars.

In his dream, he was in an office on the top floor of a skyscraper, working. On the table next to him was a round glass jar with a red goldfish inside. The eye-catching red of the goldfish, the thin tail, and fins like a tulle resembling a bride's veil, combined with the softness of their movements, delighted and almost hypnotized the viewer. It was sunny outside and unusually bright; Strong sunlight was pouring in through the wide windows of the skyscraper. Peace and comfort could be seen on Selim Özben's face. The goldfish, waving its tail in the water, suddenly became stagnant; Small waves began to form on the surface of the water. He looked up from his busy work and looked at the jar with the fish. His seat began to shake. There were signs of curiosity and anxiety on his face. The tremor in the fish's water increased, and a deep hum arose from the ground, resembling the sound of breaking. The jar fell to the ground and broke, and the goldfish began to flutter helplessly on the ground.

Selim threw himself on the ground in panic and crawled towards the window. He turned to look at the goldfish, not where it had just been. Outside, everything seemed calm and normal. Now, even though the initial intensity of the ground shaking had passed, the skyscraper began to sway back and forth with heavy movements like a swing. On the right and left, dust clouds were seen rising from the buildings destroyed by the strong earthquake. "I knew this building was solid," shouted Selim Özben with the joy of a boy who won a game.

Soon after, his attention was focused on the apartment across from the skyscraper. The apartment swayed back and forth with smooth movements, like giants in children's fairy tales. Its oscillation accelerated and became unstable, and as it bent towards Selim, it could not recover and began to topple over. Selim Özben's pupils were dilated with fear, and he involuntarily retreated as the apartment fell towards the skyscraper where he was in. The apartment building collapsed at the feet of the skyscraper, lifting a huge cloud of dust like a giant toppled domino. The fact that no sound was made during this event as if tons of flour had been spilled on the floor, made the situation even direr. Now, as the oscillation rate of the skyscraper increased, the other skyscrapers in his field of vision began to topple one by one. Each toppled building lifted a new cloud of dust, and he could not distinguish between earth and sky, as every object in his field of vision was in motion. Finally, the skyscraper that Selim was in began to topple. Selim Özben's face now had an expression of resignation and surrender. Just as the floor he was on was about to touch the ground, he found himself on the deck of a giant ship floating in the city. Now it sways like a ship in the rough sea; He shivered, feeling the wind on his face and inhaling the scent of the sea. Huge waves from the ocean continued to fill the city with water, passing through the few remaining skyscrapers. The entire city was filled with azure seawater, which swelled and fell with great turbulence. On the horizon, the clouds were passing into each other with the effect of the strong wind. Selim was shaken by a deep sense of loneliness. The whole city, which now contains his past, was like a helpless survivor fluttering in the ocean. The last hills above the water, the minarets of mosques, and the upper floors of skyscrapers were also about to be covered with water. Selim Özben started to cry, remembering his loved ones staying in the city. The strength of the wind seemed to have diminished a little, and the sway of the ship on the sea had become softer. In the sky, among the darkened clouds, the flickering lights of small forked lightning bolts could be seen. The frightening roar of the sea and the wind has subsided, light, but a steady rain had begun. Selim was now drenched from the rain on the deck of the ship and was trembling as he gazed at the horizon with sad eyes. The rainwater dripping from his wet hair and falling on his face mixed with tears. The ship he was in was hardly swaying any longer, the sea, overturned by the raging waves, now as still as the surface of a lake. Selim turned and looked at the city he had left behind, and now there was no trace of the city on the surface of the still and smooth water. His pain would have become unbearable, he woke up and the dream was over.

As soon as the live broadcast of the dream over the internet ended, the popular dream interpretation program “Dream Wanderers” began to be broadcast.

“Yes, Doruk. What would you say about dream artist Selim Özben's dream tonight?"

“A well-prepared dream, dear Batu. It is known that Selim Özben does not go to bed without preparing for any of his dreams. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the labyrinth he had built in his house in Beykoz. They created a strange place, a mixture of a horror tunnel and a circus. The displacement of rooms and walls creates a sense of adventure. Selim Özben does his daily training here before every dream. In our interview, he told me about the vitamins he uses and the nutritional supplements he takes to support his dreams. I asked about the formula of his special mixture. He said that everyone should create their dream mix. As for the dream tonight, the element of tension, the sense of adventure that we often see in Selim Özben's dreams, how can I say it; That spiritual atmosphere impressed me a lot. Dear Batu, last week I wrote an article about why we love Selim Özben's dreams; can you read this article with your theatrical voice? It feels like I can't express myself properly when I'm talking.”

“Your voice is not bad either, Doruk; But of course I'll read it."

Why Do We Love Selim Ozben's Dreams So Much?

In the last 10 years, when Selim Özben began to accompany us, my readers asked me the same question in different ways: Why do Selim Özben's dreams affect us so much? Why do we wait for that night's dream with sleepy eyes late at night when we can wait for the next day and watch it at a reasonable hour? What spiritual need do Selim Özben's dreams correspond to that we love him as a member of our family? What is the most important feature that distinguishes his dreams from others? Answering these questions, which all point to his art, is not easy even for an experienced dream critic like me; because aside from my critic's title, there is more than one reason why, as a viewer, I love dream artist's dreams. If I were to write the reasons that came to my mind without prioritizing them; first of all, I have to talk about the grace of these dreams. In this unfortunate age where everyone is in an unnecessary rush, the elegance that permeates all sounds, words, and images in a dream, late at night, in which events can reach exaggerated conclusions due to their inner logic; I don't know about you, but it creates a strong sense of purification in me. In a Selim Özben dream; Events such as the leaping of a tiger on its prey, the flutter of a bird, the joining of two willing bodies, the dance of a ballerina take place in an admirable softness, in a rhythm that flows like water. Even the scariest, saddest events create a sense of harmony with the overall dream. Another aspect that draws my attention and makes them unique is the incredible diversity. The diversity I am talking about is pervasive in places, people, objects, and emotions, and a Selim Özben dream can never be recognized from a special element it contains. It is as if all the content of life is lined up to be represented in Selim Özben's dreams. You know very well that as you watch his dreams, sooner or later you will see all the manifestations of human comedy. Of course, this diversity I am talking about does not mean that his dreams do not have specific themes, emotions that are evoked more frequently than others; In all this abundance of people, objects, feelings, places, and impressions, his dreams seem to point to special objects, more striking and burning emotions compared to others. Because of its unique integrity, his dreams are immediately recognizable no matter where they start to be watched. Uncertainty, another element I like in Selim Özben's dreams, is already one of the most important elements of dream art. When you are bored and believe that things will get much worse in the dream, you suddenly find yourself in front of a deep blue sea to the horizon, and just as you are relaxing, you suddenly see that threatening giant waves are coming towards you from afar. Perhaps more important than all of these are the dreams of Selim Özben whispering to us about our existence. Constantly changing scenes, menacing images; Like the howling of the wind, like the gurgling flow of a river, like thunder, like the roar of the waves hitting the shore, the sounds of nature, which are never missing from his dreams, are like answers to basic questions about our existence. What happens in Selim Özben's dreams seems like the usual things one might encounter in a dream. You will hear many people say, “They are similar to my dreams, they interpret my dreams.” You will feel very proud to be a part of the adventure that develops in the dream by saying that this could very well be my dream. While your perceptions are wide open, surrounded by the elegance of the dream, watching in an enchanted state with pleasure and curiosity; On the one hand, you wonder what will happen in the end, and on the other hand, you wish it would never end. While watching Selim Özben's dreams, it is as if you have escaped from the intellectual sterility and dreamlessness that ordinary events, narrow horizons, the work we do over and over again, and simple daily worries imprison us in, and enter a wonderland; At the end of the day, you think that I too am a part of an important event, an interesting adventure, a strong emotion, an enriching impression.

Another important feature of Selim Özben's dreams is that they continue to resonate in the mind after being watched; While performing your job in a calm mood at your workplace, you re-enact the dream you watched at night in your mind, think about the turning points of the dream, its striking images, and the paradoxes it contains and smile. At the end of the working day, the dream comes back to your mind, and you feel good because you think about a detail that has not been appreciated enough. Maybe even consider sharing this detail with a friend; but you give up on it, afraid that it will not create the same excitement in him.

At this unfortunate age, I know, you are all busy with many things and maybe you can't do any of them properly when you try to catch them all. That's why, for now, I would like to end our conversation about Selim Özben's dreams here, without limiting the time you will devote to other things. I am aware that the power of my pen is not enough to describe the dreams of Selim Özben, I beg your forgiveness on this matter, dear dream lovers.

Image Source: https://unsplash.com/