SCREEN I-III. Nevin Aladağ

About

Three screens obstruct and disguise the commotion of the inner city and with their stony presence they adorn the promenade like tapestries. Marking the boundaries of a space, drawing contours and axes within a field of movement regulated by shop windows and urban furniture, and mapping a place of engagement, the screens evade the everyday protocols.

Screens are, for Aladağ, many things. They signify a camouflage, veil, protective wall, grid, but also a projection surface. They are hybrid elements, which not only block out and shield but also disclose and represent. These screens could also be read as descendants of the so-called Mashrabiyas, semitransparent ornamental walls that have been used in the Arab world for many centuries and have decisively contributed to the codification and geometrization of the gaze. Their most sophisticated forms attest to the systematic deconstruction and algorithmic generation of form and figure.

Cobble stones of Rauris marble and Waldviertel granite are inlaid and arranged in different ornamental configurations that keep both the pattern and the material in precarious suspense. Disentangling the architectonic elements of the screen and the stone block from their familiar functions, Aladağ releases hidden narratives and opens up spaces which stimulate action and engagements and turn into dispositives of story-telling. (Text: Daniela Zyman)