The exhibition, which handles the concept of “the origin of species”, which is one of the main fields of thought of the natural sciences, within the epistemological and scientific critical thinking system, constitutes a paradigm shift in the mind of the audience by referring to the occupation of the dimension of time, chronology, “thinglyness” and randomness.

“Speciation is an example of the selection of a random element of life by historical evolution so that it does not change forever. The concepts of chance and randomness play a very important role in understanding the concepts “why” and “how” of the universe; it is important to understand how our intellectual control over natural processes is limited by chaos. What we call chaos today is a temporal evolution that has a sensitive dependence on initial condition. P.S. Laplace and Henri Poincaré discussed the concept of sensitive dependence on initial condition within the framework of classical determinism. One other basic fact is that the simplest form of evolution over time is invariance. On the other hand, examples of chaos in the field of physics show that some dynamic conditions lead to a chaotic and unpredictable temporal evolution rather than equilibrium.

The first thing to keep in mind is that our life equation has to survive with all the randomness in the universe.
Classical chaos, quantum uncertainty and even Gödel’s theorem will go hand in hand and try to introduce coincidence into the universe”. *David Ruelle

While forcing the human mind’s limit of inability to imagine what who has never seen before, the artist invites the viewer to reflect on the development of deterministic and indeterministic natural processes resulting in ambiguous systematic forms, by putting forward of the glory of organizing from commonplace with a palpable and bare stance.

“Every being is both “perfect and real”, so that the perfection of every being is “the agreement of realities in one reality”.” *Baumgarten

While Nergiz Yeşil’s “other possible normal” species, like speculative creatures subjected to different molecular and physical concepts in Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, create the “absolute other” feeling with the representation of those who never existed, the strong relationship of the material -which used as an upper-language- with the feeling of “inability to touch” and eerie, emerges as the conception of beauty in the universe of thought to which it belongs; did the artist make flawless mistakes in creating the works; or were the works perfectly shaped themselves?

While the installation of the organic and semi-organic skeletal forms used by the artist, the human-made objects used in the exhibition and the un-natural coloration of “non-sacrificial“ speculative skin originating from the kombucha culture -which is indeed capable of communicating with the microbiome of the living things through post-genomic pathways- create different experiences in different perspectives on the point of transcending the distance with the works, this elements also allow for the dialogue between the works in the exhibition area.

Beyond watching an object of art, the exhibition directs the audience to experience their own perceptions with a mental aesthetic, while offering the audience an alternative of learning to learn with the help of contrast created by grandiose and modest concepts. The names of works and the use of material gives freedom of choice to the neuroscientific and cognitive schemes that shape individuals, perhaps with a phenomenological attitude.

The transformation of the works -which seemed to be shaped with “didactic methodology” on the superficial level-, into the “opera aperta” through the audience relation, stands out as an important point. In the art language of the exhibition -where the works are not the symbol of something, but as the “itself”-, in the reality of “Paleontology Museum” with the material processes, the history of the artist, the artist’s book, and the formal and intellectual attitude, an alternative canonical formation which has its own foundations is also observed. This embodiment makes the audience think about the supposed paradox between contemporary art and permanence.

“A momentary meaning: a visible appearance in a glimpse – an eye-catching cognizance – huge world seen through a narrow slit of comprehension…
Permanence of transience –
a transience that lasts …

As in… ”Find the essence – don’t say too much: just enough …” *Oruç Aruoba

Dr.Elif M. Özcan

Scientist / Maxillofacial Surgeon