C. M. Kösemen

Cevdet Mehmet Kösemen (born 18 May 1984), also known by his former pen name Nemo Ramjet, is a Turkish researcher, artist, and author. Kösemen is known for his artwork, depicting living and extinct animals as well as surrealist scenes, and his writings on paleoart, speculative evolution, and history and culture in Turkey.

Together with Australian paleoartist John Conway and British paleontologist Darren Naish, Kösemen co-authored All Yesterdays, a 2012 book exploring speculative ideas in paleoart, and Cryptozoologicon, a book applying speculative evolution ideas to cryptids, both of which were widely covered in international media. Among Kösemen's most known personal speculative evolution projects are the book All Tomorrows (2006) and the ongoing project Snaiad.

A species of flightless pygmy grasshopper from Costa Rica (Naskreckiana kosemeni) is named in honor of Kösemen.

Background Cevdet Mehmet Kösemen was born in Ankara, Turkey, in 1984. After attending Koç High School (Istanbul) with obtaining an International Baccalaureate with high honours in 2002, he studied at Cornell University (New York) between 2002 and 2003, and at Sabancı University (Istanbul) between 2003 and 2007, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Arts and Communication Design. Kösemen subsequently went to Goldsmiths College (London) in 2007, from which he achieved a Master of Arts degree in Documentary Film and Media Studies in 2008. He has worked as an editor for the magazine Colors by Benetton and in several different advertising agencies.

From a young age, Kösemen was interested in paleontology, extinct animals and evolutionary history, envisioned by him as a way to explore "strange creatures and strange worlds". Kösemen is also interested in visual culture and Mediterranean history.

Career

Artwork

Kösemen's artwork ranges from scientifically accurate depictions of prehistoric life to surrealist paintings. Kösemen's surrealist art combines elements of "imaginary spirits" and "mythological environments". In 2010, Kösemen met Kerimcan Güleryüz, head of an art exhibition project called the Empire Project, which prompted him to further explore symbolism in art. and Conways's, Naish's and Kösemen's later book Cryptozoologicon were widely featured in the media.

In 2011, Kösemen discovered that he is descended from Dönmeh, Jews forced to convert to Islam in the 17th century. He published a book about them, Osman Hasan and the Tombstone Photographs of the Dönmes, in 2014. This book was purchased by several leading research institutes and universities worldwide and won Kösemen the Eduard-Duckesz History Prize in 2016.

Kösemen has garnered attention for his work within the speculative evolution genre. In 2006, he published the book All Tomorrows online as a free PDF file. It depicts humans genetic modification done by extraterrestrials named the Qu, galactic nomads almost a billion years old, travelling to one spiral arm to another in epoch-spanning migrations. During their travels they constantly improved and changed themselves until they became masters of genetic and nanotechnological manipulation. With this ability to control the material world, they assumed a religious, self-imposed mission to 'remake the universe'. This work experienced a surge in online popularity in 2021. Kösemen is also known for his "Snaiad" speculative evolution project, which explores a fictional alien world called Snaiad, with a diverse ecosystem of creatures designed by Kösemen himself. Kösemen hopes to eventually publish Snaiad as a book.

In July 2024 Kösemen announced a crowdfunding campaign to publish All Tomorrows in English as a physical book for the first time. The crowdfunding goal was met within 24hrs.

Tangent Realms A documentary about C. M. Kösemen and his work, titled Tangent Realms: The Worlds of C. M. Kösemen and directed by indie filmmaker Kevin Schreck, was released in 2018. The film explores not only Kösemen's art, but also his personal life and questions he and other people face at some point in their lives. The film received awards at several indie film festivals.