Intouch / Beliz Demircioğlu Cihandide
Touch is described as “to come into contact with and perceive something” in the dictionary definition but in Turkish culture it is much more than just a sensory perception. Everyday gestures of touch have dozens of different figural kinds and meanings across Turkey depending on the region and the micro-culture. From Black Sea to Mediterranean, from mountains of the east to Aegean seaside hugs, greetings and tactile communication styles are very diverse. Most of the time this diversity can only be understood when one spends a good amount of time in these areas. Different than many cultures across the world, in the macro-culture that gathers all the micro-cultures of Turkiye, touching between strangers and friends/family is accepted as a very natural, common and necessary aspect of everyday life.
Folkloric dances are a very good representation of Turkish body language. They are performed in weddings, festivals, religious and non-religious holiday celebrations. Each city has its own set of folkloric dances and depending on the region the styles, costumes, movements and music change dramatically. The style differences of the movements create a very diverse body language but one thing that is common between all the different regions is the closeness of the bodies to each other.
In Turkish culture the concept of personal space and body usage has unique codes to it. These codes usually involve a close relationship with other bodies and they are so well knit into the culture that when Turkish people visit other countries for the first time they start to realize these codes that have constructed their body language.
Showing closeness and genuineness is one of these codes. Most commonly when Turkish people see a friend or meet a new person, they give each other kisses on both cheeks and usually a good tight hug. This action is accepted as a very common way of showing sincerity.
Conveying unity is another code. For example the audiences in soccer games are always in extremely close contact. In the grandstands even before the game starts the fans hug each other and dance together even though they see each other for the first time. And after each goal, the celebrations turn into hugs and kisses.
A different one of these codes is respect. When greeting elders of certain age, people kiss the elder’s hand and take the hand to their forehead. This is a non gender specific gesture and the age of the elder that would expect to receive this kind of greeting would vary depending on the region and if the place is a city or a village. In some places, this gesture is so important that not doing it could be perceived as a sign of disrespect.
These codes effectively construct the basis of the body language of Turkish people. When enough attention is paid, these gestures can be seen in various kinds of cultural representations from common and daily actions to artistic platforms like traditional puppetry theater “Hacivat and Karagoz”.
Intouch is an interactive video installation that aims to bring forth the Turkish perception of the body in relation to other bodies. As the viewer approaches the installation they see a picture of two hands and in between them a projection. In the projection area there is another sculpted hand reaching out. When the users approach the installation they can see that there is a dark video playing and the pixels of it are constantly changing their hue and saturation. So users can't really understand what the video is. If they reach out and touch the sculpted hand, the pixels slowly find their own color and the footage of people from Turkiye become visible. The footage reveals different aspects of cultural body usage as a way of communication. The connection requires patience and effort from the users’ side; therefore they have to stay in touch for sometime for the pixels to reveal the footage. When the users pull their hands back; the pixels go back to their dark quality.
Intouch is an interactive attempt to use the closeness and sincerity of Turkish body language as a connector between French and Turkish people.
Notice
Intouch is an interactive video installation that aims to bring forth the Turkish perception of the body in relation to other bodies. As the viewer approaches the installation they see a picture of two hands and in between them a projection. In the projection area there is another sculpted hand reaching out. When the users approach the installation they can see that there is a dark video playing and the pixels of it are constantly changing their hue and saturation. So the users can't really understand what the video is. If they reach out and touch the sculpted hand, the pixels slowly find their own color and the footage of people from Turkiye become visible. The footage reveals different aspects of cultural body usage as a way of communication. The connection requires patience and effort from the users’ side; therefore they have to stay in touch for some time for the pixels to reveal the footage. When the users pull their hands back; the pixels go back to their dark quality.
Credits
Concept and design by Beliz Demircioglu Cihandide
Intouch was originally designed as the first interactive installation to be exhibited at the United Nations Headquarters for the Chasing the Dream: Youth Faces of the Millennium Development Goals Exhibition.
Exhibitions:
United Nations Headquarters, New York
Interactive Telecommunications Show, New York
boDig08, Istanbul
