the square

A space in a house where an opening brings together a hallway and a great room. A space of transition. Tiananmen Square in China, Tahrir Square in Egypt, Homs Square in Syria, and Taksim Square in Turkey are thresholds of transition.

Gulay, my Turkish friend who lives in the United States, shared her home and her passion to see Turkey peacefully transition with a group of artists who made installations at her home in Edgewater. I asked Gulay for images from her personal and family experiences in Turkey. Together with images from my travel in Turkey some 20 years ago, and from images taken from social media during the current uprising, an image was composed to create the fabric of the projection cast over this dynamic space within Gulay’s home.

From this projection, the floor and walls were carved – permanently etched into the living spaces of the building. The white lines on the red background are the colors of the Turkish flag. Cast over this threshold in Gulay’s home, it is both whole, and broken. Personal experiences etched into a symbol of personal and public space. Here, I am mapping identities and power. I am mapping change: Gulay identifies as Turkish. She identifies as American. She identifies as the individual Gulay. She identifies as part of the collective voice on the square of transition in Taksim Square.