Manta Ray - ramp with stairs, grotto and climbing problems.
Plywood, timber, fittings and cushions.
3.8m x 10m x 9m.
2004
A site specific installation for Hit & Run, Platform. Istanbul.
Performance / intervention programme curated by Smart Project Space (Amsterdam) for Platform (Istanbul).
Press release contextualisation (Smart Project Space)
“ a programme of interventions in different locations throughout the city “. “Regarding the geographical and historical position and importance of Constantinople and Istanbul as barrier and bridge between Europe and Asia, the interventions aim to generate a dialogue wherein cultural differences are bridged, focusing on the human condition and general structures that bind our social lives together. Hit & Run consists of concise moments, submitting an intense impulse for negotiation and dialogue. The interventions and performances will be introduced and supported by additional video programmes of related works and a series of artist presentations, lectures and discussions.”
I was invited to participate in the performance ( see San Lorenzo direct ) aspect of Hit & Run project in Istanbul and also invited to develop an intervention based installation in the gallery space at Platform with this work Manta Ray - ramp, stairs, grotto and climbing problems.
The gallery project, Manta Ray - ramp, stairs, grotto and climbing problems, constructed a new entrance way into the gallery from the street - where the public having entered the gallery were faced with the a ramp to be negotiated to enter the space where the performance and screening elements of the programme took place.
The construction, a series of three slopes, formed a ramp which almost reached the ceiling then a set of steps descending into the gallery and then underneath a “grotto” climbing space - where the more energetic public could climb on the under-ramp.
By allowing the audience to move into the gallery by this means the project provided an immediate physical engagement for the “viewers” visit to the gallery. The structure provided the centre piece to the gallery and develop the theme of temporary intervention and audience engagement.
Hit & Run ( Manta ray / San Lorenzo ) Smart Project Space / Platform, Istanbul. 2004