Drawings, lenticulars and models
with Silva Ajemian
commissioned for ‘Blind Dates‘, exhibition curated by Neery Melkonian & Defne Ayas, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, 2010-11, New York City
models by Richard Tenguerian
photos by Aras Özgün, Aslıhan Demirtaş
At Ani, a bridge once connected the two banks of the Akhurian/Arpaçay river. Today, of the now collapsed bridge, only the abutments on the two sides of the river remain, one in Turkey and the other in Armenia. As the remains of the bridge exist in two territories, Ani exists in two worlds, at once an important historic Armenian capital and an archeological ruin in a military zone in Turkey at the border with Armenia. Two architects are seduced by the collapsed bridge. Their project consists of a series of visual, graphic and tectonic ‘conversations’, set up to investigate and interpret the multiple existences of Ani, the river and its disconnected bridge. The ‘conversations’ start by revealing the lenticular existence of the place and develop by interweaving the resulting existences, references and projections. New York based architects/designers Silva Ajemian and Aslihan Demirtas work to reveal two stories, two forecasts. As they bridge from their respective approaches, they seek to interleave insights and articulate nested architectural and geographic narratives to create illusions of simultaneity and unfold possible realities.
Eccentric Faultlines Lenticular
RIP Neery Melkonian.