One of the most important qualities held by the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, in addition to the acquisitions made, is the support given to artists for the creation of new works. This approach allows the institution to share the artistic process, promoting a museum model where the artistic process is supported, shifting away from the traditional mode of collecting. This process-based approach is not based on already existing values and preconceived notions, but foregrounds experimentation. When we consider poetry and media art side by side, for example, new interpretations of the artworks evolve. (Curator: Necmi Sönmez)
Second Floor
When we start to think about poetry and media art together, we are entering a new territory of interpretation. Thus, two artistic efforts, one using text and the other visual images, converge here. Between the two, we witness the formation of new partnerships and perspectives, completely intuitively.
Third Floor
Some of the floors of the Haunted Mansion have been turned into dark space so that the works in the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection can be better perceived. In this framework, the areas created by lightproof curtains enable the viewer to get closer to the works. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Pulse Index is an installation based on the fingerprints of the viewers that are collected through sensors. A program that the artist has designed himself bring together the fingerprints and pulse rhythms of the viewers by way of digital microscopes and heart rate sensors, creating a very striking composition. In this work, the viewer encounters hundreds of fingerprints, triggering a questioning of their own being, their own existence. Does each fingerprint really belong to one person? How is it possible to interpret the motifs that are formed by the different traces? How do we interpret the fingerprint, which is part of one’s identity, when it is made anonymous? Many such questions emerge from Pulse Index, which could also be categorized as participatory art.
Fourth Floor
The fourth floor, which has been transformed into a dark space by using lightproof curtains, leaves strong impressions on the viewers through the uses of neon and video projection. Laurent Bolognini’s neon object has the potential to be reproduced infinitely by using mirrors. The geometric forms that at first resemble floral motifs are positioned around Optical Art (Op Art), an important movement in 20th century art that emerged in the 1960s and was focused on deception. Bolognini shed the dry repetitions of Op Art and developed light sculptures in which black humor played an important role. The work included in the exhibition is based on the repetition of the neon forms. This remarkable work is capable of creating a hypnotic impact on the viewer. It has a visuality that is appealing for the viewer and yet is serene.
Mezzanine Floor
American artist Marina Zurkow uses animation for this work that accompanied for her solo exhibition at Borusan Contemporary in 2016, More&More (invisible oceans). For this work, the artist interpreted the use of oceans, which cover more than 70% of the earth, by international shipping companies from a critical perspective. Transportation by sea not only causes environmental damage, but also limits the areas of living for the inhabitants of the ocean.
Fifth Floor
On this floor, the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection meets an impressive view of the Bosphorus and highlights the struggle between these two forces. The artwork, relays different experiences to viewers using new visual languages.
Sixth Floor
In order for the works included in the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection to be presented in the best possible conditions, this floor has been turned into a dark space. Carsten Nicolai, who had had a solo exhibition at Borusan Contemporary in 2015, intereprets water and processes of vaporization with futuristic strategies.
Seventh Floor
his floor, which can be seen as the heart of Borusan Contemporary, greets viewers with a video by Wang Sishun. This work features light that the artist has monitored over the course of a long trip, featuring stunning images of fire. In order for the fire to appear to be preserved for many kilometers, the artist created a unique visual composition.
Curator: Necmi Sönmez
Photographs: Özge Balkan
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