Chasm

Project Concept

There exists a huge space in a narrow chasm within the wall, where nothing seems to be able to exist. That is the unknown zone and people reside in that space are “aliens” who strive to find their ways to communicate. Participants attempt to communicate with these "aliens" who appear illusory through the wall. Physically, the virtual and physical spaces exist as two distinct places in South and North Korea as an example. People inside the wall in one place become those outside the wall in the other space, and vice versa. The wall itself is designed in such a way that this telepresence is not clear but translucent. Two interlocutors communicate through this surface in an attempt to find and understand one another. This is a starting point of Commulution. Commulution begins with an effort to accept our differences and understand each other despite illusory boundaries.

Participants Experiences

A participant is required to wear “communicating clothes” before entering the exhibition room. Upon entering the room, they see only a large concrete wall in the middle of the room. The wall is made of two layers of concrete blocks. When they approach the wall, they see illuminated objects moving within the wall. Between these layers of concrete, the wall appears to contain a large space with faint people moving around inside. The participants, after walking around the wall to see if there is something behind, realize that the wall is in fact very narrow. When they come closer to the wall - within the distance of one meter - the image of moving people disappears and only the wall itself remains in view. But when the participant walks back from the wall, she again sees the people moving inside. The audience soon finds that some of those behind the surface are wearing the same “communicating clothes” as themselves. Participants outside the wall and people inside the wall may also communicate through it. The language available for communication across these "communicating clothes" consists of basic icons. For this reason, conversations may start with simple facial expressions and an exchange of feelings and lead to move complex forms of communication. The participants are invited to explore these new means of communications by testing the limit of this iconic language as expressed through a virtual surface.