Melek Zeynep Bulut explores the realms of perception, space and sensory experience through her latest art installation “Duo”. The installation follows Bulut’s much-acclaimed "Open Monuments" series that quickly garnered three international awards. Using a system of magnets, sensors, acoustic reflectors and perception-altering surfaces, “Duo” responds to its historical context through an interpretation of duality and oppositional forces such as centre and periphery, inside and outside, night and day, time and space, or simply, two people in conversation.
A rectangular prism, its minimal design redolent of ancient forms, evokes a sense of psychological closeness; while an interconnected mechanical system of magnets and sensors induces a delicate balance and rhythmic harmony. The installation blurs the boundaries of design and space, presenting a multi-sensory journey that fully reveals itself with the viewer’s interaction – the human presence altering the work’s spatial motion and rhythm. At its core, “Duo” encapsulates the essence of ‘two’: a dialogue, an agreement, and the dynamic interplay between both centre and periphery.
“Imagine it like our body—fundamentally not a solid mass, but a sensor. It perceives and responds to stimuli by producing sounds and has sensory receptors that allow us to feel textures, heat, and cold. Similarly, “Duo” conceptually treats ‘space’ as a mechanical body.”
As London Design Festival’s one of the Landmark Projects of the year, the work exhibited at the iconic Painted Hall in Greenwich, United Kingdom, which is considered the Prime Meridian and is on the Unesco World Heritage List.
