OPEN CALL for Musibet
Musibet, curated by Emre Arolat, is one of the two exhibitions comprised in the 1st edition of the Istanbul Design Biennial
The Aestheticization of Context and Anti-Context in Design along the Axis of the Grand Transformation
The backbone of the Istanbul Design Biennial, the first edition of which is to be held at Istanbul Modern in İstanbul from 13 October to 12 December 2012, will be informed by two design approaches which, however much they may seem to be contrary at first sight, nevertheless reveal a surprising convergence owing to their tremendous topicality and pervasiveness. We shall refer to the first of these tendencies as “Context & Specificity”, to the second as “The Aestheticization of Acontextuality & Innovation”. Of the two, the first, in the hands of powers-that-be, transforms context into a tool while fleshing itself out with a dangerous and imposed false-historicity whereas the second “merely” seeks to apply gloss to misplacedness. While a critique of the world of the spectacle, which gave birth to both of these “poles” and which constantly nourishes and fattens them, as well as of the prevailing design media, which epitomize such a world, is one of the primary objectives of this exhibition, what is perhaps even more important is the potential of this critical position to reveal urban and architectural design as a brand-new domain of liberation.
“The Istanbul Design Biennial: A unique opportunity in the World of Spectacle and perhaps also a glimmer of hope”, an essay written by Emre Arolat, one of the biennial’s co-curators, is intended to provide a conceptual framework for this potential.
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