Taking its inspiration from the elements that have been the subject of philosophy since ancient times in order to understand the origin of life, the exhibition “Dalınç” [Immersion] literally translates to; a silent ecstatic enthusiasm, meditation driven from awe of a beautiful appearance and/or a thought.

According to some eastern philosophies; the fifth component to the elements besides air, fire, earth and water (which is the main reason of the cistern’s construction), if these four mystical elements are the other explaining building unit is transcendental meditation, or aka immersion or “dalınç” as known in Turkish.

The exhibition, which Musaoğlu constructs its focus as a transcendental immersion with water, based on elements of being, and focuses on the psyche of individuals trying to keep up with the trends of our age. Just like the remnants that act on the memory of water, our identities and forms of expression turn into coded symbols in an augmented digital flow. They evolve through the windows we look from within a screen. We see that the artists in the exhibition deal with the ways of understanding/signifying the self of our existence from different perspectives like the hypotheses put forward by the Ionian thinkers who explain the building blocks of existence with elements. While mirroring the cultural reflections of these lands with the audio-visual installations in the exhibition, a mental journey map is drawn that is open to interaction by bringing together esoteric symbolism with colors and nature’s elements.

The cistern’s mystical nature is transformed into an experience where opposite and at the same time mirror image elements of water-fire and air-earth are removed from the symptomatic symmetry and dispersed into space, evoking different impressions. A digital flow where images and colors are constructed to balance our masculine and feminine energies and create spaces for ourselves in the digital world we have created… Dalinç describes our manipulated versions with the use of reflections of nature and sounds. It thus offers the viewers an experience of them selves.

Şems says “Consider each travel you embark on as an internal journey!” Here, you too can embark on an internal journey. You can talk to the light here.

Welcome to Dalınç.

Curator Seyhan Musaoğlu