UNPREDICTABLE (2018)
Digital Photography
Fine art print
2 × 90 × 120 cm
8 × 60 × 45 cm
​
“City gives the illusion that earth does not exist.”
— Robert Smithson, Sediments of the Mind
​
The photography project Unpredictable explores the aftermath of objectifying matter by contemplating the absence of the object itself.
​
The city emerges as both a byproduct and catalyst of modernity’s re-imagined ideals—where individual existence is both shaped by and shaping the urban condition. In this context, the place of the individual within the construction of modern society has shifted continuously throughout history, oscillating between ideals of collective well-being and imposed norms of “the good life.” These contradictions manifest as the illusion of an ideal society—one that promises resolution but instead reinforces normative pressures through standardized lifestyles.
​
The photographic series Unpredictable investigates the aftermath of objectifying matter—where built environments emerge not as sites of dwelling, but as residues of economic speculation and ideological uniformity. Shot in Bodrum, a coastal landscape increasingly overwhelmed by concrete repetition, the work meditates on the dissonance between natural topography and the imposed order of speculative development.
​
Once characterized by its geological textures and spatial openness, Bodrum's shorelines have become a stage for homogenized summer housing projects—structures that erase local specificity in favor of standardized desire. Here, construction is not only a material act but a symptom: the earth is overwritten with modular ambitions, while the human presence becomes strangely absent.
​
The project centers on a photograph of uninhabited, human-scale concrete buildings—monuments to a modernity that promises leisure but delivers exclusion. These faceless typologies, left unfinished or unoccupied, articulate a spatial language of absence: spaces built for someone, but belonging to no one.
​
Paying close attention to the surface of the image—dust particles suspended mid-air, invisible scratches, and ephemeral footprints—Unpredictable renders the non-human trace as a counterpoint to architectural dominance. These residual signs function as quiet acts of resistance, revealing fragility within the systems that claim permanence.
​
In this context, Bodrum becomes a metaphor: not merely a site, but a contested terrain where landscape, identity, and ideology intersect. The sea is near, yet unseen—its rhythm displaced by grid lines. Nature becomes a backdrop to the illusion of timeless luxury, even as the very materiality of the land is reshaped, fragmented, and denied.
Unpredictable ultimately asks: what does it mean to build where memory resists being inscribed? What remains when the earth is flattened by design, and individuality is dusted over by repetition?
​
The urban fabric, as both material and ideological construct, surpasses the individual and establishes a relational framework—one that defines the subject positions, identities, and roles necessary to sustain social order. Gender roles are among the clearest examples of how society produces its own boundaries. Within this construct, binaries—such as inclusion/exclusion, private/public, human/non-human—are constantly reproduced, often in the name of modern progress. These borders and dualities define not only space but also identity and belonging.
​
The project features a single photograph that captures human-scale, uninhabited concrete buildings—structures either abandoned or never occupied. It critiques the replication of identical units as a speculative investment in “human leisure,” designed under non-human conditions. These unfinished residential typologies—despite being intended for diverse identities—exhibit a homogenized architectural language that speaks more of erasure than inclusion.
​
The work pays particular attention to details: particles of dust suspended in air, invisible to the naked eye; scratches and footprints rendered visible through the photographic medium. These marks serve as abstractions of fault—suggesting fragility, presence, and trace. The dust’s lifeless appearance, juxtaposed with its distinct forms, becomes a metaphor for individuality within societal uniformity. These traces challenge our assumptions about construction—both architectural and ideological.
​
Unpredictable investigates the singular within the systemic, the presence of the unaccounted. Through non-human remnants rendered visible, it invites reflection on how identity, absence, and materiality are entangled in the project of modernity.