Vicente Mateus, Şevval Öztürk, Nursena Yıldız
Our intervention is based on light as a spatial concept. With it, comes the possibility to create a stage without boundaries, without definitions, without any classes and categories; a common ground. We took our intense relationship with isolation, how it affected our social life in a new city and we brought this relationship to the streets, where anyone can experience it, together.
After sharing our thoughts on the current situation of the world, we all agreed that we were dealing with isolation in a way we’ve never experienced before. Us three, coming from different countries and having diverse cultural backgrounds, have an urge to connect to people in this new city of Berlin. It is almost a basic need. Unfortunately, the world is slowly stepping away from a reality where that is possible and safe, so we have to be creative in finding alternative ways of meeting new people and walking through the city without leaving our homes. Although isolation can be frustrating, it is also a chance for ourselves to delve deeper into our feelings, needs and motivations.
Our work revolves around these two contradictory but symbiotic facets of the concept of isolation – the urge to belong somewhere else but the opportunity to make peace with our own loneliness. Instead of answering any questions, we rather ask “Is it possible to take our personal space to the streets and collide it with the public domain?”.
“There is a deafening calmness in the air. My room is lit, unlike anyone else’s in my building. The light briefly greets my courtyard, to then fade into the darkness forever.”
Vicente
“Sitting in front of a window, gazing out to the empty streets as I am doubting if something will happen in the next minute. Minutes pass one by one, only animals I see, passing by the street lights. Their presence I acknowledge through the dim street light.
Light of a small candle burning in front of me, as I am gazing outside. My eyes sometimes catch this little flickering flame. Its warmth that I am feeling, reminding me I am safe here and sadly, I am alone.
My eyes catch the reflection of my face. None other thing matters for this small ball of light. I am wondering, would anyone want to share the flame burning by my side ?”
Şevval
“A beam that suddenly appears in the pitch black…
trying to find and understand itself, shaky, unsteady but
also self-confident.
Suddenly my surroundings become dark.
After I found myself, I started to be visible.
I used the pressure that the darkness put on me as a curtain
with which I can present myself. I had a pattern inside me; color, awareness, transformed, flexible.”
Sena