Art Basel Parcours

Can Altay presents a spatial intervention inside an empty commercial space on the ground floor in one of Basel’s most active urban zones. Setting a Setting (Nr. 46) is an environment for exchange, gathering, and encounter, composed of a sculpture with audio components, seating elements, and conversation sessions.

Central to the setting is Fountain, a sound sculpture whose vibrations move and bounce sand, making perceptible the invisible, immaterial effects of soundwaves as they shake the grains around. The fountain is an archetype for architectures of gathering in courtyards and public squares, but in this case, also its inverse, as the sculpture replaces water with sand. Fountains evoke connotations of springs and new life, but they have also been used as acoustic barriers in diplomatic meetings.

Along with Parcours curator Stefanie Hessler, Altay will host a conversation on cohabitation andconviviality. The recorded conversations will be fed back into the sound sculpture, accumulatingthe collective voices and remnants of ideas discussed throughout the week. A third element is the publication project Ahali, a self-initiated publishing project that Altay began in 2007. The publication brings together artists, curators, theorists, and designers, functioning as an information setting for the distribution of ideas. The setting will culminate in a new issue of Ahali based on the conversations and encounters during the week.

For Turkish and more.