Installation Charon’s Compass
DATE September 2022 VIDEO DURATION 14’30”
Charon's Compass is an outcome of an on-going research project, investigating the environmental
violence enacted through the development of geothermal energy
in the Buyuk Menderes Graben, the Gediz Graben and the
Denizli Graben in the Aegean coast of Turkey. The video installation
foregrounds the manifestations of the deep subsurface on
the surface through an exploration of various local practices
that are generated by the particular surface-deep subsurface
relations in these grabens. In addition to the boreholes of
geothermal energy plants, the project maps the holes, cracks
and cavities of these practices, through which the deep
subsurface makes itself visible on the surface, including
ancient healing and divination caves, thermal baths, hot
springs, underground rivers, ancient and contemporary
travertine quarries and mineral water sources. Through
layering, relaying and navigating matter, images, sounds,
myths and stories from the field, the project explores the
relationship between the worlds that have been generated
by the deep subsurface in the region.
Installation view
Photo credit: Nazlı Erdemirel
Photo credit: Nazlı Erdemirel
Video still frames