“Disobedience Archive” is an ongoing, multi-phase video archive and platform of discussion that deals with the relationship between artistic practices and political action. Exhibition design and spatial concept creation was made for the exhibition that take place in Salt Beyoglu, from April 22 to June 15 2014, curated by Marco Scotini and Andris Brinkmanis. “Disobedience Archive brings a comprehensive map of social conflict and a network of contemporary activism to town.” said the curator, Marco Scotini.

The people of İstanbul recently demonstrated in a formidable struggle to defend Gezi Park and to embrace their right to the city. To propose any display idea for such an archive brings along a certain susceptibility that has no option but to deal with the aftermath of recent local acts of disobedience in İstanbul. In order to provide a unique and presentative display, while avoiding directly referencing the “Park,” our design basis derives from the tension of two notions: individualism and collectivism.

These days, “home” refers to the individualization of society and the changing context of acting, revolting and resisting today. While on the other hand, as Constantin Petcou and Doina Petrescu said “at a micro scale, capitalist space is drowned under promotional pressure that is continually carried out by all communication means and media (mail, telephone, television, internet), transforming the home into an absolute center of a consumerist culture of the ephemeral. All objects are disposable; they are no longer recycled or repaired by oneself.”

Scotini’s project reveals the power of collectivism and defines a self-positioning against capitalist space and consumerist culture, while documenting and archiving. For this very reason, it is vital to emphasize the power of collectivism both through the display idea of the archive and within the overall process. In the meantime, Architecture for All, by its nature, seizes upon a collective way of thinking and promotes participatory design processes in its activities.

For the display of Disobedience Archive at SALT Beyoglu, Architecture for All concentrates its energy on seeking a compelling design concept, which stresses the dichotomic nature of individualism and collectivism, in other words home and urban space. We anticipated that this contradiction could be best expressed through the articulation of recycling and constant disposal. Digging through the inventory of SALT, we came up with a proposition to reuse existing furniture and turn the fragments of an idle archive into something fresh. We were attentive to the need to provide soft material for a comfortable environment. This created a home-like atmosphere, which eventually eases the conscious act of video watching.

Team: Alican Inal, Cansu Cürgen, Cenk Dereli, Emre Gundogdu, Merve Gül Özokcu, Sarper Takkeci, Yelta Köm