Obedience Training

“Obedience Training” is built around a repeated exchange between exposure and physical consequence. Batur directs a camera into her open mouth and takes a photograph. Each time the shutter is released, an elastic band around her wrist is pulled and released, producing a sharp, burning sensation against the skin.

The sequence repeats. Opening the mouth, taking the photograph, pulling the elastic, releasing it. The camera enters an intimate and vulnerable part of the body, while the act of recording is immediately followed by pain. With repetition, the sound of the shutter begins to carry the anticipation of what comes next.

The work draws on the logic of conditioning, where an action becomes connected to its consequence through repetition. The body begins to recognise the sequence and anticipate the sensation before the elastic is released. Exposure, observation, and punishment become bound together through the repeated action.

The open mouth holds the possibility of speech while also becoming something exposed, inspected, and recorded. “Obedience Training” considers how the expectation of punishment can enter the body through repetition, shaping its relationship to expression, visibility, and control.