Another Site Proposal

2nd site proposal - behind the water reservoir building in Taksim Square.

The site - a parking lot on grade.

A protest to get rid of the Minister of Corrections.

The view from a second story building across the street.

Adjacent back lane.

Montage of backlane. The site is were the fence can be seen.

Research Creation Project

Initial Thesis Studio Proposal

My initial thesis proposal will be based on a continuation of my M1 year looking as changes in micro-pressures and vibrations depicting the subtle fluxes, ebbs and flows of exchange through the structural application of inflatables and pneumatics.

Looking for a site that contains a lot of density and complexity in terms of history, current changes, current activities and uses. The site will be located in the vibrant city of Istanbul, Turkey. In itself known for its historical significance including establishing the city of Istanbul as the new capitol of the Roman Empire to Ottoman takeovers and several crusade invasions, as well as multiple layers of complexity encompassing language, religion, commerce and trade as a result.

The initial investigation will look into the notion of scent and its permeation in, through, around a space. A smell is “a trace or suggestion” of something that has a tangible origin. This origin has a material source, which can then be linked back to how did the item come to be there, was it brought by someone thereby having a human implication, was it of a mechanical nature, such as diesel or exhaust implying an economic significance.

Smell is also closely linked with memory. So it is not only available as a current trace of ones surroundings, but also a historical link to the past. The definition of a scent is  “a pervading appearance, character, quality, or influence” or “to perceive, detect, or discover.”

Recent scientific studies have proposed that we are able to smell because different particles have different vibrations. How we smell and the vibration theory of smell is that scent molecules vibrate “quiver and shake.” Luca Turin, a biophysicist describes it as “a molecule is made up of tiny balls connected by springs, twang the balls and the molecule vibrates with a set of frequencies which can be recorded as a vibrational spectrum.” (www.sciencebase.com/elemsmell.html) “More scientifically, he believes that the vibrational spectrum of a molecule is the real property that is detected by the nose and interpreted by the brain. The idea sounds bizarre but two of our other senses vision and sound – are based on the brain’s interpretation of vibrations and spectra so why not smell?”

The major themes throughout the year will encompass scent, memory and language.

The site proposal is located in Taksim Square, perfectly presenting Istanbul’s insistent ‘joie-de-vivre.’ In Arabic ‘taksim’ means ‘distribution,’ originally the point where the main water lines from the north of Istanbul were collected and branched off to the other parts of the city. Established by Sultan Mahmud 1 and named after the stone reservoir which is located in this area. Also refers to a Turkish style of improvisational music.

Two other sites which were considered were in Beskitas on the main road leading straight into the Bosporus or a missing tooth in the Old Centre. Although both have a tremendous amount of historical significance and poetics, they seem to be lacking the connection to flux (the hustle and bustle of activity) and pneumatics.

Currently core of business, such as the Congress Valley has been host to the world’s most important meetings and summits just a few minutes away. In addition to being a major tourist destination at the top of Istiklal Caddesi, this square has been a hot spot for political riots and demonstrations as well as a point of religious confluence with its mosques, synagogues and churches, foreign consulates, suicide bombing les than a year a ago, and football stabbings between England and Turkey.

Specifically the site is located on Tarlabasi Blvd on the bus route passing through the aqueduct. On the Google map it’s the block of buildings labeled Butterfly Apart Flat (but I don’t think that exists any longer). The entire stretch of the block is one condemned building next to another. I propose to use the entire block for my site.

This site is rich in history, current activity ranging from tourist to political, and local folklore. I feel it is the right choice for my site. 

 Taksim Square for Google Earth. Look for Butterfly Apartment Flat on Tarlabasi Blvd.

 Image of site. Quick montage of the derelict block.

Taksim at 5am. This city never sleelps!

ISEA 2011 Performances - NAME Readymade

September 15, 2011


Janez Jansa     Janez Jansa     Janez Jansa

My Name Is Janez Jansa.

Three Slovenian artists decided to make a gesture, to officially change their names to Janez Jansa, the name of the Slovenian Prime Minister at the time. NAME Readymade is a project that questions the notion of a name, the significance of appropriating someone else's name, and the numerous socio-political implications this 'gesture' has in one's personal and public life and future. In this case of four people are permanently affected by this gesture, the three artists and the then Prime Minister. 

NAME Readymade challenges our position on the value of our name as our identity and as commodification. By taking on the name of someone famous questions the value of a name and it's potential devaluation. Three artists are living and working as the artists Janez Jansa. The significance of this work is how the public and private realm of the lives of the artists collapse. All three were married to their spouses as Janez Jansa, with their witnesses being Janez Jansa and Janez Jansa. Their lives are their work, and their work is their life. Where does the name of the artist and the identity of the artist begin and end? At this time all three have been issued new passports under their new names, but all three still carry valid passports under their old names. So who are they? Janez Jansa decided to sell his 'readymade' passport in an art auction, which further spawned 'readymade' legal papers required to sell a government owned property. Then he had to 'borrow" it back to travel to Istanbul for ISEA 2011. If he loses the passport he will have to refund the purchaser for the purchase price. And so it goes. 

My name is Janez Jansa. 

*From a performance at ISEA 2011 Istanbul.http://www.aksioma.org/name/

Exploring Istanbul

September 15, 2011

Traffic on the water between the Strait of Istanbul and the Sea of Marmara.

Kids hanging out on the rooftop checking out the amazing view of the sea!

1st night out with Aaron and James having local cuisine at a terrace restaurant in Beskitas Centre near our apartment. The Turkish football team was playing Israel and the city was so alive with activity!

ISEA 2011 Istanbul

ISEA Istanbul 2011, 14 - 21 September, 2011

• Over 100 international artists from all over the world at the intersection of art, science and technology.
• More than 450 presentations, over 70 panels, plus 60 workshops as well as networking meetings and special events.
• From algorithmic art to robotic, from musical plants to art with bacteria.
• ISEA 2011 Istanbul coincides with the Istanbul Biennale, Isimsiz (12. Istanbul Bienali), 2011
• As well as several art gallery exhibitions throughout Istanbul.

Keynote Speaker: Roman Verostko

"The Painter's Brush: Hand-held and Machine Held 1947 - 2011"*

Verostko's major influences include the following: Kandinsky for his visual forms analogous to music trying to transcend material object and reality. Mondrian's 3 dimensional aspect depicted on a 2D surface. Naum Gabo's kineic standing waves as a new reality which could stand on it's own and in and of itself. Piet Mondrian's dynamic equilibrium, equivalent oppositions, universal harmony and cosmic order.

The Magic Hand of Chance is "the art idea guiding the hand moving to the art idea guiding machine," thereby moving from hand painting to pen plotter drawing machine, algorithmically derived, with code set in parameters, in a sense algorithmic poetry.

"synography like a symphony"

As such code underlies much of our culture. The question is, how do you get from the composer a translation from idea to expression? Code contains something (spiritual), it transcends yet is evasive, something we can't logically explain. There is code for everything and in everything; for example our DNA is code. The process or procedure of where you go with it. During the Renaissance there was a shift in human consciousness a revelation in terms of how humans looked at and experienced the world.

In the Information Age we apply a generative procedure with computer power we can do things we couldn't do before. What influences those decisions is arbitrary, not less than, not more than, but a throw of the die. Epigenetic art is not purely generative art, yet if genotype is the code then the process by which the code unfolds. When the seed is planted it grows into a tree, epigenisis, the mature tree is the genotype. Epigenetic is the process that leads to a painting system generated from gestures.

*Notes from the lecture.

Masters of Architecture Thesis Year

Istanbul, Turkey 2011

This year the three thesis students, Aaron Simoes, James Rubio and myself decided to begin the year by attending the 12th International Symposium of Electronic Arts (ISEA 2011) in Istanbul, Turkey. We employ electronic media in our individual research creation projects towards an interactive architecture.

View from our apartment in Beskitas, Istanbul on the European side of the Bosphorus Straight. It is fantastic here! I can't get over the views.

The city of Istanbul with a view towards Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque.

View north along the Bosphorus looking at Fatih Sultan Mehemet Koprusu bridge lit up at night. We are in a penthouse apartment with a 270 degree view. It doesn't get any better than this!