Link for the exhibition text and documentation: https://kubaparis.com/submission/501448

Site-Specific Installation, 2025

The central installation consists of elements related to living species’ existence, disappearance, and survival struggles. These pieces are made from a variety of materials (plastic bottles, epoxy, phosphor pigment, latex, powdered pigment, balloons, liquid plastic, lead, metal, polyurethane foam, ceramic, snail shells, dried pomegranate, copper tape, etc.). Some elements are placed directly on the grid structure, while others rest on aluminum containers acting as pedestals.

This foundational structure, which aims to show both above and below ground while functioning as a labyrinth, refers to a war simulation game (Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig, Das Kriegsspiel). The fact that the elements can be moved facilitates my own process of experimentation while also evoking the impermanence and displacement of things. Each compartment holds hidden fragments waiting to be discovered—some appear as short videos on iPads, while others are concealed inside boxes.

While designing this installation, I envisioned a museum visit—perhaps a zoology-archaeology museum or a space like the Hunterian Museum, where a surgeon’s collected and archived specimens are displayed. The grid system references the “target” lines seen in video works and serves as a layer representing the underground and aboveground. The drone-like balloon, floating above and silently observing, questions what it means for a machine to monitor and control what happens below from above.

This small-scale “constructed space” functions as an island or a topographic cross-section. What is land? From where is it viewed? What determines its boundaries and scales? What will fossils and archaeological remains look like in the future? These are some of the questions explored.

Photography: Zeynep Fırat @ Sanatorium