Yağız Özgen’s installation Office Department Lighting Problems looks toward the “atmosphere” of the gallery from when it was previously used as an office. The installation begins with the artist removing the existing artificial lights and explores the relationship between natural light filtering through the ceiling glass onto the newly built wall and an artificial light introduced by the artist.
This work is a derivative of a project Özgen previously developed at the Cité des Arts residency. In this iteration, the artist portrays the gallery walls not as simple prismatic objects, but as highly complex structures emerging within the field of perception. Özgen focuses on the variable light values on walls painted in a single color. Much like the dynamic natural light filtering through the gallery’s ceiling glass, the artificial lighting employed within the space contributes to the perceptual complexity of walls that might otherwise be read as monochromatic. Because it occurs under specific lighting conditions, this work emphasizes that the interior space, just like the exterior, cannot be confined or limited in terms of its formal and historical memory; rather, it is an environment in constant interaction and flux.
Sketch of Office Area Illumination Problems drawn during a studio visit.
