The Result – ‘Un/changing City Walk’

A long time coming, but even so I thought I should put up some images and a short video of a public presentation of the results of the residency at amberPlatform.

Installation video

The above is an image of the installation from behind. The work was a curved cloth wall/screen. The screen was backlit and images projected from behind. People entered from the left side and entered and interacted with the work.

The images were stop-motion animations of Istiklal Cad. I went back afterwards to take an actual video, but there were some significant differences of walking down a street with a video camera in hand compared to a still camera. The video camera meant that people were approaching me more, they were more aware of it and wanted to be a part of the “preformance” or video. The very thing that I was capturing with the stills was being lost by the presence of the video on the street.

The other aspect of using the stills stitched together to make the animation meant that each still is perceived more like time and movement being frozen. In fact the night shots created a sense of each image being part of a stage set. The strange lighting, the bizarre digital camera auto-focusing on only some things, creating almost theatrical imagery.

Stop-motion Animation workshop

On the weekend I gave a workshop that was a short introduction to stop-motion animation simply using digital cameras, or mobile phone cameras and a basic introduction to Quicktime Pro and Adobe Flash. These applications were just used to collate the images taken by the cameras. See images below plus the final animations…

Onat working on his animation with his mobile phone camera.

Damla and Canan working on their animation. They began with a rough storyboard and went from there.

Watch the animations Kibrit and Robot

Putting it together

Animations

I’ve been investigating stop-motion techniques and I came across a hack for Canon cameras. I have not done this yet, but the possibilities are endless and would like to share this info: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

I have been looking at different techniques and output possibilities for animations. I created some animations that were output as animated gifs. I really like the texture – as if a walking tapestry [click on image below].

Also I’ve been taking thousands of images of Istanbul. These images are mainly of what I see and explore. I started with my walk to Findikli. Then I decided to brave the 10 of 1000s if not over 100s of 1000s of people that are walking on Istiklal Caddesi.

Istiklal is a busy street! People, including myself, are overwhelmed with the sheer traffic of people walking down this pedestrian street. Walls of people are the daily norm. I have only seen it quiet once – one morning last year during the first day of the Bayram at the end of last year. It was an almost eerie feeling after getting used to the presence of life always being there.

I began at Tünel and braved the massive crowds. I walked super super slowly down Istiklal holding my Canon camera at belly-button level in the spitting rain. Over an hour later with hunched shoulders and a sore back I gave up, bought an umbrella and decided to start at the Taksim end another day. It was like an endurance performance…

After contemplating how to combine the Istiklal stop-motion with the walk, a decision was made to focus solely on one. My friend Antoanetta with fresh eyes saw the strength of one over the other. After much discussion, the above walking animation would be put on hold and more endurance performances were ahead of me.

Material investigation

After visualising the size, it was time to investigate how to make it. We decided to look at how tents are made and investigate their materials. A good starting point as my prerequisites are:

• Has to be easily assembled & disassembled
• Can not be a permanent structure
• Lightweight
• Screen must be semi-opaque to allow for back-projection
• Cost-effective

I went to IMC with Deniz Yilmazlar who kindly helped me to investigate the possibilities. IMC is an amazing place that has lots of cloth specialists and more. There are tent-makers, curtain-makers, plus IMC sells all sorts of fabrics. We visited a number of shops that focus on tent construction, but their ideas were fixed and were considering more of a permanent structure using steel poles [which is apparently cost-effective in Turkey, aluminium is expensive we were told]. Steel I did not want. So we came back with ideas and information of what not to do.

Next was a visit to Karaköy, just a couple of minute’s walk from amberPlatform, so it was close. Deniz found me someone else to help out as she was busy, so Selin helped out. We were thinking lightweight and laterally. We came across flexible tent-poles in one of the many outdoor camping shops around here. Near Persembe Pazari we found shops that sell fishing equipment, ropes, steel aluminium and brass pipes and more. We were exploring possibilities.

Plastic coated metal cable in different thicknesses.

Aluminium circular rods

Different types of metal rods – brass, copper, aluminium and more. Fishing wire choices.

After much deliberation these investigations informed the final shape and materials used. We only found one set of flexible tent poles – so that could only create a semi-circular form with a 5m diameter. So this is the final shape.

Visualising the size

The size of the installation I have in mind is 5 metres in diameter. I am not good at visualising such numbers in the physical world, so I decided to map out exactly how big it might be in the studio space here at amberPlatform. We concluded that it would need to have an entry point hence making it a swirl in the end.

It looks big :O
Newspaper and chalk were used to map it out. The outer edges of the newspaper is the edge of the final size.

Curves and distortions

After much deliberation, domes have been put on hold and an alternative form has been decided upon – a roofless cylinder. So I have been researching ways to create panoramas for the content. Trying to find a solution without the use of high-end equipment via simple means, for example, using software to manipulate photographic imagery is one starting point.

There are a number of different applications that specialise in creating panoramic imagery. I have started simply by using Adobe Photoshop – File>Automate>Photomerge. Here are some examples [early days, please excuse the rough edges]:

One of my favourite places to eat, in Odun Meydani Sokak. It has vines growing for shelter as if in a village – here you can eat, drink cay and relax for a few minutes.

This image you may have already noticed in the post In search of Domes…, but in that post the images are separate pieces. So that’s what these steps in Photoshop can do, combining little pieces to create one final image.

After experimenting and thinking about curved walls, curved spaces, distorted images, I was lucky enough to come across an exhibition at Borusan Müzik Evi on Istiklal Cad. The exhibition is called “Matter-Light”. There is a work by Sarah Kenderdine & Jeffrey Shaw. It is an interactive piece that uses a cylindrical space and 3D imagery exploring places and spaces in Turkey . I’ll report more on the exhibition later…

Capturing light

Another fascination of mine is light. As I walk around Istanbul I have been looking at things with a different eye. I have taken images that are a result of light being caught on camera, reflected, refracted, mirrored and more…creating interesting images, colours and textures.

Light falling from hamam ceiling.

House across the street in my tea.

Istiklal Cadessi, Tünel with lights.

Car whizzing past in Necatibey Caddesi.

Amber’s space at night.

This image is a reflection of the studio but on the entry door. This image reminds me of the Pepper’s ghost effect that I saw at the Magic Lantern Society‘s convention last year. When you take something out of context the interpretation or meaning is altered. Without all the facts one might think it’s the actual studio.

Domes in Tophane

After exploring the insides of the hamam dome and realising that I could not use it, I started to see if I could find a dome that was not in use. Below are some images of the domes I came across along my walk back from Cihangir, but none are up for use for my purposes.

In search of Domes…

I have been obsessed with circles for a long time and in fact one work of mine, Ringe Raja, I made and used a geodesic dome. While here at amberPlatform it is my intention to continue further with this particular work.

So my first week of being here I decided to investigate what options I have with domes in Istanbul, as I was looking for an alternative to the geodesic. I started to look into using an already existing dome, and Istanbul is a perfect place for them. Domes in mosques and domes in hamams, they are in fact everywhere, the skyline would seem incomplete without them!

Possible options: There are many mosques around, but they are generally not used for anything else other than for prayer, so a mosque is not an option. The hamams are an option as there are a few that are in disrepair and could be used if the timing was right. It was brought to my attention that an exhibition plus performances, entitled hamam project, was being held in one in Cihangir and I should see if I could also use it.

The exhibition was still on and I was lucky enough to visit it as well as explore the space. Here are some photos. I started imagining how to use it, and begun thinking about using it for some other projects – a dome camera obscura for example. There are images here of the exhibition, or peruse my images of the circular lights and dome below…

After my explorations I came out to discuss what was going to happen to it after the exhibition with Jesse Gagliardi, who told me that the following week renovations were to begin.