Şimdi temassız geçebilirsiniz | Now you can cross without touching

An urban imaginary is an understanding of an urban space that is constructed by its users. In a city as large and diverse as Istanbul there are many potential understandings of how its physical presence influences our experience of it. In recent years, alongside the development of an increasingly hierarchical urban design, much of the city’s infrastructure projects, from new bridges to new ferries, have dealt with managing how we cross the waterways on which the city is built.

photo credit Murat Germen

In this piece I encourage viewers to examine, develop  and diversify their own imaginary of Istanbul, focusing in particular on how visual elements of our space and structures can show underlying political functions. Drawing from plein-air observation, personal anecdotes and continuing research on Istanbul’s urban development, the piece develops a strong contrast between the monumental Bosporus bridges and the smaller bridges of the more touristic and historical Golden Horn.

The Galata, Haliç and Ataturk bridges show a cliché grandeur of historic minarets next to the graffitied bustle of public docks, parks, and even public transportation. The representation of the auto-only Bosporus bridges references a division between those with the means to cross and those without and emphasizes their monumentality.

The movement of the piece suggests that the urban imaginary exists, not as a fixed conception of the space, but as a dynamic and collective process that occurs in the space between our individual experience.

This installation was exhibited as part of Dün Bugün İstanbul, at the Sakıp Sabancı Musesi.