"Invisible Istanbul" uses smartphone augmented reality to overlay virtual artworks via GPS positioning onto the physical space of specific sites in Istanbul and the Biennial, creating surrealistic and poetic juxtapositions between real and virtual within the context of the hidden urban dynamics of Istanbul.

Viewers become as photographers: the act of viewing or making a screenshot of the objects at a specific site and time reifies the virtual objects into artworks, revealing hidden forces within the city not visible to the naked eye.

"Invisible Istanbul" consists of two series of works, "Captured Images" and "Urban Dynamics." Please see below for information on each work series.

"Invisible Istanbul" is part of the ISEA2011 Istanbul exhibition Uncontainable, an official Parallel Program of the 12th Istanbul Biennale.

To view a work series:
-Use a smartphone (Android, or iPhone4) or tablet PC (iPad2, Galaxy Tab) with Internet access.
-Be physically present at the site of the artwork with your mobile device.
-Enter the launch page web address (given below) on your mobile device and follow instructions
  to launch the artworks.
-Once you launch the artwork, look up, down and around to find it - it may be behind you!

AR tour:
Sunday September 18th, 17:00h (changed!)
Look for the yellow "Invisible Istanbul" logo
at the cafe in front of Antrepot 5/Sanat Limani
Istanbul Biennial

Or by appointment:
- PATTU: cem at pattu dot net
- Tamiko Thiel: tamiko at alum dot mit dot edu
  (In Istanbul Sept. 10th-22nd)
  

hayal-et

“Invisible Istanbul: Captured Images”

by Tamiko Thiel

addresses Tophane, the former munitions factory compound in which the 2011 Istanbul Biennial is now being held. The augmented reality works explore relationships between historical exibitions of munitions in this area and contemporary exhibitions of art, and the hidden dynamics in Istanbul that they reveal.

[ mobile launch page: invisibleistanbul.org/ci ]

[ immobile: images and documentation page ]

“Invisible Istanbul: Urban Dynamics”

by PATTU (Cem Kozar & Işıl Ünal)

departs from the Tophane compound and explores the nearby neighborhoods of Karaköy and Galata. The future and the past of the city create the urban dynamics that shape both space and its inhabitants. These forces are not visible to the naked eye – AR will be  used as a medium to provide a new set of eyes, a new way to look at the city to reveal these hidden dynamics.

[ launch page: invisibleistanbul.org/ud ]