Gözde Duru İlter
M.Arch Graduate Student
Spaces of Dust
The ‘The Spaces of Dust’ exhibit works as an extraction system for the residue left behind by humans, detaching architecture from living bodies and encouraging visitors to do the same. It prompts visitors to imagine and visualize the architecture they are within, to be standalone and non-anthropocentric, to decenter themselves as the sole owner of the space, to make space for owners other than themselves, namely nonhuman agents like dust, residue, and trace. The exhibit achieves this by operating on scales imperceptible to the human eye, taking the role of a speck of dust on surfaces, residing in the nooks and crannies of the built environment. These dust specks, therefore, become the agents through which we conceptualize and visualize the space we experience on a human level. The aim of this disorientation is to challenge preconceived notions of the built environment and its broader purpose in the Anthropocene, which have traditionally been defined as ‘shelter’ or ‘space of containment and gathering’.
Visitors should leave The Spaces of Dust with curiosity about the meanings and definitions of the built environment detached from the human perspective, questioning whether it is still the built environment we regard it as, even without human presence.
The ’Spaces of Dust’ exhibit, therefore, aims to bring attention to the lackluster side, the neglected aspects of the Care condition, specifically caring for nonhuman others. The care condition has primarily centered on the anthropocentric, largely human stresses in architecture and the broader world. But along with the human condition come posthuman and nonhuman facets. While focusing solely on humans, we often overlook the effects and residues of human activity, leaving a considerable portion of the Care system unaddressed. To illuminate the nonhuman, the exhibit showcases these aftereffects of the Anthropocene. These effects, while exponential, manifest in various forms, such as residue, trace, and remnants, acting as agents of the nonhuman condition we are eager to shed light on. Therefore, the Spaces of Dust exhibit acts as a bridge between post-anthropocentric spaces and the concept of care, especially regarding how far we are willing to extend this concept.
The exhibit encourages visitors to observe and interpret the formations of these nonhuman, residual, and trace accumulation spots in the same way they would observe human spaces. Visitors are prompted to recognize these as ‘spaces of dust’, prompting them to question their origins and experiences, almost as if scrutinizing their own human environments. By noticing recurring patterns and formations, visitors are encouraged to develop personalized typological interpretations.
The exhibit features standalone objects with minimal contextual details, requiring visitors to construct their own context. It is composed of three parts: the dirty archive, the pillars, and the bridge. The bridge provides the exhibit’s context and information, including a 1:50-scale model of Mithatpaşa Köprüsü with colored sections indicating specific data-collection locations. It also provides the necessary information for visitors to locate themselves as they begin exploring. Visitors are expected to conceptualize the bridge and navigate its sectioned-out points of interest. With the information gathered from the bridge, they can now confidently locate themselves within the pillars and objects. The pillars are where the actual spaces of dust are displayed. They work as individual columns, emphasizing the significance of the objects they carry. These objects, modeled in plaster, are physical materializations of dust spaces. Visitors are asked to visit and inspect each pillar in conjunction with information from the bridge section to build some understanding while filling in gaps on their own. The pillars are the exhibit’s main focus. The dirty archive is a collection of visual data from the research process, giving visitors a foundational understanding of orienting themselves within the research scope, unlike the bridge, which was for the exhibit itself.
Because of the concepts introduced within the exhibit scope, visitors may at times experience a sense of disorientation. This disorientation, however, should remain productive, inviting wonder, curiosity, reflection, and inquiry rather than creating overbearing confusion. To support this, the data provided by the bridge and the dirty archive sections are deemed adequate in guiding visitors through the exhibition’s conceptual framework. If confusion becomes excessive and prevents engagement, the exhibition risks failing to fulfill its intended purpose.
In such a case, The Spaces of Dust would be perceived merely as an aesthetic art display rather than a research-driven conceptual exhibition. The aim is to position The Spaces of Dust as an active archive of non-anthropocentric typologies in which visitors participate and navigate critically.
