Reflection of the use of dowry and found fabrics on art

In the text of this work; firstly, after the relationship between art and craft is under debate, the historical position of the dowry is mentioned; from the beginning of art history, it has been examined how dowry and found fabrics have taken place in artistic studies. In the third chapter, after mentioning the use of objects in art, examples of the use of dowry and found fabrics in feminist art are given. In the fourth chapter, works of art produced in different disciplines with dowry and found fabrics in Turkish and World art were examined. And then, examples of work which I produced from dowry and found fabrics are included. Dowry is a sociological fact, related to establishing families, which, since the early civilizations, has been saving its own continuity. With the developments of technology, with the decrease in hand-made, and with the handicraft losing its former value, the cultural importance of dowry is diminished and changed. With the increase in industrial products, the function, the ergonomics and the esthetic principles have been taken more into consideration in their design. Thus, art and craft has been treated together and met with each other once again; resulted with establishing connection within the material and the art. Throughout the history of art, the artist is always in communication with the object. When it is argued that entities and concepts have the feature of being objects, art and object are a whole. The differentiation of the age according to the esthetic and spiritual changes opens new areas of use to the object and in the modern period, the object is subjected to all kinds of questioning by the artist. Thus, the ready-made object, which entered art with Dada, created a new milestone in art. Various materials and tecniques have been used in art making, following the fundamental change in traditional art concept in early 20th century. Following these developments, the dowry, which has been in close connection with art since the very beginning, takes part in art both as notion and as material. Following the developments in technology and industrialization, the scrap objects and the found fabrics that fulfilled their economic life have become alternate materials for the art. In this work, the utilization and the way of treatment of dowry and found fabrics in the art techniques of performance, famaj, assemblage and installation, have been examined, by examples feminist art and contemporary art. The transformation of the cultural meaning of dowry and found fabrics to artistic expression is also analyzed, together with dowry and found fabrics's stylistic and conceptional changes in and similarities with todays art, again by showing art works as examples. In the fifth chapter, the use of dowry and found fabrics as art objects by taking examples from my own works; evaluated in terms of material, form, content and technique. Key Words: Dowry, found fabrics, art and craft, ready-made, contemporary art, feminist art, famaj.