The Breath of Life / Gülay Yiğitcan
Istanbul is a city of endless stories. One of those stories is connected to the heart of the city, one of the oldest residential districts of Istanbul named Galata. There has been living a ritual silently since 1491, constantly calling people to peace, art and science in the Galata Mevlevihanesi (Whirling Dervish Hall) for centuries. This centre of music and science has contributed tremendously to Turkish culture. Many people were gathering around trained on miscellaneous branches of art and got important successes in the scientific area. Religious, racial and language differences are not barriers for people gathering around Mevlevihane. Music, breath and movement are the only essentials in this practice.
The idea of The Breath of Life came with a desire to explore the interaction between the body movement, breath and the corresponding human emotion. The choice of Ney (Turkish traditional blowing instrument) for this project is due to its analogy to the human body. In Sufi literature, Ney is identified with the human body because both of them come to life through breath. And the seven registers of the Ney are identified with the human body parts.
Ney is composed of nine nodes and seven holes. Respectively the human larynx is composed of nine nodes, and the human head, of seven holes; eyes, nose and ears. Moreover, Ney is one of the instruments which have the most similar timbre to the human voice. The aim of the project is to make the visitor experience the relation between the body movement, the breath and sound by practically blowing into the Ney, and thus having a direct contact with the image triggered through the breath.
Notice
The Breath of Life is an interactive installation supported by video and audio elements by using censors, programmable interface cards, and computers. The visitor is invited into a circular space in which stand a "Ney" (traditional Turkish blowing instrument) and a circular projection screen. As the audience blows into the "Ney" there appears a short video sequence of a moving body. There are many video sequences which will appear corresponding to the blowing intensity of the interactor. The blowing will be accompanied with a related "Ney" tone. The audience will get the feeling of moving the dancer by his/her own breath.
Credits
Concept: Gülay Yiğitcan
Interactive Design: Gülay Yiğitcan, Cem Uzunoğlu, Kemal Yiğitcan
Video: Gülay Yiğitcan
Music: Kerem Türer
Dancer: Mihran Tomasyan
This installation was first exhibited in boDig08 in Istanbul.
