ISTANBUL – A state of immersion is a state of consciousness in transformation. A bit of a mouthful? Not to worry. Turkish artist Refik Anadol’s installation, Infinity, offers a window through which to explore the abstract experience of artificial awareness. Presented at Zorlu Center of Performing Arts Centre during the Istanbul Biennial, the mesmerizing space invited visitors into an alien audiovisual landscape created to transgress the normative boundaries of perception.

An elemental part of Anadol’s ongoing project – Temporary Immersive Environment Experiments – the installation ‘questions the relativity of perception and how it informs the apprehension of our surroundings’. To achieve the desired effect, the artist constructs provocative artificial worlds intended to soak the neurons of those who enter his stimulating settings, which deconstruct and rearrange reality.

For the biennial installation, Anadol’s concept of infinity determined nonphysical space through algorithmically generated projections and sound. Once inside, the ‘immersant’ was confronted with a swarm of organic grids and lines that interacted to conjure a 3D pseudo-world. The longer viewers lingered in the environment, the more their minds accepted artificiality as authenticity; the result was a shift of consciousness. In his work, Anadol not only addresses immersion but pushes the boundaries of traditional visual art, inching us ever closer to the shores of the final cyber-frontier.

Photos Refik Anadol

refikanadol.com

This article debuted in Frame #108 alongside many other inspirational interviews and projects. Find your copy in the online Frame store.

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