Statement
A key interest of mine has always been the connection between people and urban spaces. I mainly work on documentary-style videos and they uniquely consider Psychogeography and the question of “How do different places make us feel and behave?” in my practice. [1] Psychogeography is an artistic form coined by Guy Debord in 1950 and it has been described as a means of exploring the emotional and behavioural effect of a geographical location/ urban space on individuals. This artistic form looks at the city as a constructed place and explores it by drifting and with “the act of becoming lost in the city”. While purposefully walking, we don’t absorb the environment, but drifting connects the walker to the city. [2]
Built environments shape our behaviour, how we see ourselves, and how we understand the identity. We bring different histories, our past, into the present. My country Cyprus is divided from the half. Separation is my starting point, and it shaped my path of exploration. This conflict in Cyprus has an enormous impact on my life, which is why I always find myself turning back to this historical issue. This issue has shaped my perspective and persona.
My final piece, places and faces (May 2021), a Psychogeographic exploration of the cities and people, is a two-channel video installation. With his reverence and interest in the environment around, Patrick Keiller and his essay films have helped me look at the urban spaces from a different perspective. I look more specifically at cities and how people behave, feel and act in different places. Due to my interest in Psychogeography, I got drifted into this subject and this interest ties my previous practices into my final work. The medium of video is personally the best way to catch and display the moment and the idea. My practice intends to observe and question how these experiences in urban spaces can be so similar yet so unique to one and another.
These inspirations have also led me to the question of how we can experience a place differently in different situations. My previous works from this year such as the drawing series, should I turn left or right (November 2020) explores the outside world as a female flaneur. The video that same café (December 2020) observes the experience of being in a café during lockdown with pre-coronavirus footage. Likewise, the road back to my childhood (March 2021), portrays the documentation of my Sunday journeys on the road to my grandparents’ house, a nostalgic trip back to my childhood memories. I have only used the songs played on the radio with a voiceover that stands for my inner thoughts. On the other hand, the turkish cypriot identity crisis (February 2021) is a documentary-style video which observes turkish speaking Cypriots and their identity more closely. which is which (October 2020)
My intention behind the two-channel video installation was to be able to show the juxtapositions, the contrast, and the harmony of urban spaces and how an individual or a stranger feel and behave in different environments. Sometimes these two screens complement each other, sometimes they contradict. Larissa Sansour’s In Vitro, with the aesthetically harmonised shots, is one of my key influences behind the two-channel video installation idea. I mainly shoot videos with my DSLR in long static documentary-style shots. Footage from archives also takes a particular part of my practice. My interest in capturing the moment and watching/ following strangers, just like Sophie Calle, helped me build my archive over time. Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City influenced the context of my practice. Similar to Patrick Keiller, I first shoot and then write the text/ voiceover to my videos.
Patrick Keiller’s Robinson Series has been a key influence in terms of voiceover, editing and shooting. His voiceovers reveal the covered-up history in the city. Keiller has also been a good influence with his practice of inspecting the streets through past, present, and future and with the way he studies cities and creates his videos. So, the idea of combining past and present with my final piece further explores the notion of what the image of the city is and culturally was.
References:
[1] "Psychogeography – Art Term". 2021. Tate. Accessed May 1. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/psychogeography.
[2] Lyons, Siobhan. 2017. "Psychogeography: A Way To Delve Into The Soul Of A City". The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/psychogeography-a-way-to-delve-into-the-soul-of-a-city-78032.