An image in art disciplines: The Latch keys

The latch key that has existed in our lives from the old ages to the present has been an important tool that man has used to protect and store both himself and his belongings. Apart from their features to protect and hide, latch keys are worthy of their unique forms that can vary from culture to culture, as well as their decorative and symbolic embroidery on these forms. The latch keys have become an important object of inspiration and image for artists with their functional, formal and symbolic features within both the understanding of archaic, ethnographic, and contemporary art. The aim of the study is to determine the use of latch key form as a direct or indirect image in art. It is thought that the research will create a sense of awareness in the artists who work in plastic arts, beside this the latch key form can also be considered as an imagery subject in today’s art with its both formal and functional aspects and it may be important in terms of being an image that can be used in art. In this research, descriptive method has been used. Moreover, by making a literature review, the process of the latch key which has been an important tool of our lives in the history of mankind, and its formal and symbolic features have been researched since the time it was invented. Furthermore, the artists and their works which handle the latch keys as a subject of imagery directly or indirectly in plastic arts were investigated and the artifacts were examined in terms of form and technique. In the light of the findings of the research, it can be said that the latch key form has been processed as an important object in revealing the formal structure and semantic values and artistic practices. Among the functional tools involved in our lives, the latch key forms can be considered as an example of the fact that these tools can be transformed into a powerful image or imagination in art beyond their functionality