From Belfast to Baghdad and Belgrade Collins’ work originates in areas of conflict and political division. Addressing the inherent problems of representation, Collins shifts the focus from sensational news coverage to aspects of everyday life. Working with video and photography, Collins’ installation and live events appropriate the documentary tradition and elements of popular culture to establish an immediate and humorous connection with the participant and the viewer.

The artist’s first exhibition at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery will feature dünya dinlemiyor the most recent in the series of his much celebrated the world won’t listen video installations. Shot in Istanbul in 2005 and first presented as part of the 9th International Istanbul Biennal this work documents the collaboration between the artist and the disaffected youths of the city who are seen performing Karaoke renditions of The Smiths album The World Won’t Listen. A tender, humorous, sometimes melancholic portrait of society, in the local and global sense, the work is a study on the mediation and strength of popular culture to which, despite its boundaries, we are all exposed. The first installment of the trilogy el mundo no escuchará was filmed in Bogotá in 2004, and the third and final party shall be completed this year in Jakarta.

The exhibition also presents elements of Collins’ the return of the real, a multi channel projection and photographic installation that investigates the promises and betrayals of reality television from the point of view of former participants. Produced in Istanbul as well, the project was structured as a forum for people who had never before met but had in common their previous participation in reality TV and its profound effect on their lives.