Heat-Flux: Bayrampaşa

Photography Series, Installation, Residency
Various Dimensions
2018-2020

Heat-Flux: Bayrampaşa is the output project for AirBayrampaşa artistic residency, which took place at Ramada Encore Bayrampaşa between June 1 and June 13, 2018.

The project is a study of addressing the heat changes, specifically for the Bayrampaşa district in Istanbul. It is planned as a laboratory that uses heat changes as a metaphor for energy transitions on different layers such as economically, socially, and geographically.

The flow of energy leaves traces behind. Traces are often invisible in turbo-capitalism, which may define as an efficiency-based system. These energy streams, transformed in unpredictable ways, often give output an inefficient end product. Even though it is obscure, the traces of heat can be monitored hypothetically.

In the urban sphere, all living and energy-producing objects cause different heat flows. Among these objects, the most obvious ones might be listed as the people, flora, fauna, working machines, production centers, factories, and workshops where physical labor produces intensive energy, and so on. However, if we look at the architectural structures as potential energy centers or museums that contain works of art, we can see them as cultural monoliths or black holes. We can comprehend entertainment centers, historical sites, or religious places as energy regulators. Particularly for Bayrampaşa, the energy flow is recorded intensely in central areas such as Esenler Bus Terminal, Forum Istanbul, or Bayrampaşa Wholesale Market.

From an urban perspective, it is possible to refer a distribution method that ends in small streets where the current is spread out through metro networks, roads and finally reaches a serenity similar to capillaries. The transformed energy evanesces unsystematically and uncontrollably. That causes a different kind of experience in each zone. The energy flow in busy zones where many people spend time during the day is relatively faster.

During the two-week residency, the pinpointed locations were photographed with two methods: thermal and optical camera imaging. The gathered data transformed into an installation and a photo book. The project was exhibited at the PASAJ Karaköy between January 30 and February 15, 2020.