Nurgül Yardım Meriçliler (PhD) is an architectural designer, researcher and communications specialist based in London. She received her degree in Bachelor of Architecture from Middle East Technical University (2009) with a mansion prize at Archiprix graduation project, and her MA degree at the Interdisciplinary Urban Design program of Istanbul Technical University (2011). Nurgul received her Ph.D. in Communication from Istanbul Bilgi University with a dissertation focusing on makerspaces in London (2023). Trained as an architect, Nurgul spent eight years in global architectural practices in Istanbul. Currently, she manages Anylab Experimetal Studio, as a resident at Somerset House Studios. Anylab encompasses a wide range of fields in between art, architecture and communication. Her project, "Pop-Up Makerlands," was selected as a co-chair pick in the "Design in An Age of Crisis" global open call and exhibited at the London Design Biennale in 2021. Nurgul is also a producer and host of Anylabtalks podcast, featuring interviews with outstanding creative people. Since 2022, she has collaborated with New London Architecture as the co-editor of Istanbul Architecture Diary. Additionally, she runs a weekly newsletter titled "Sense of Place."
Adapting can be defined as the state of adjusting the behaviour when faced with different conditions or responding appropriately to changing situations. We can assume that the mind of an adaptable person is filled with possibilities, dreams, and challenges.
Therefore, discussions about why a person wants or does not want to adapt can arise from factors such as their identity, location, perspective, or way of thinking. “Paradox of Adapting” focuses on the tension between a person's ability to adapt and resistance to change. This dilemma, which describes the situation that gives the exhibition its name, suggests that individuals may choose to change themselves to adapt, change their environment to suit them, or seek new situations instead of adapting. In his drama "Man and Superman," George Bernard Shaw said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” Is it a simple choice to be reasonable and adapt or to resist in order to make progress? Do we have alternatives to choosing between adapting to our experiences or resisting them to move forward?
As invited artists share their own adaptable states through their works, they will also encourage viewers to distance themselves from the narrative of adapting. As these works create space for each other to exist independently, they will also create new situations and discourses for the audience through their interactions. One work that embodies adapting which involves surrendering oneself to the flow of life and being in harmony with nature is Nastja Säde Rönkkö's Take Me Anywhere, in which she recorded herself blindfolding herself and riding a horse in an open natural environment. Another work that creates an adaptable state is the Unnamed (U.T) bust by Yaşam Şaşmazer from his Busts series, which is carved from wood but partially covered by moss and fungi. The organic, perishable material choices that are sensitive to weather and change create a context that questions adaptation. To understand the relationship between adaptation and nature from a different perspective, two photographs from Alper Aydın's Unnamed installation are on display. He shows how the light under a rug left on the grass in an open field fades the grass beneath it. The artist tells us how a place can adapt to a temporary situation, but how that adaptation is perceived as good or bad depends on one's perspective. The grass that has adapted to being deprived of sunlight returns to its green and shiny old self when it starts receiving sun again - albeit after a while. This work is significant not only because it raises questions about adaptation but also because it reflects the parallels between art and nature.
Instead of conforming to adapt, there is a group of works that seek to adapt. What will happen after adapting, changing or returning to the past? In Nermin Er's work Study Lines, which is cut and shaped with extreme patience and meticulousness, we see a fluid sense of time on 48 relief papers that represent moments taken from daily life and framed for us by the artist. The artist's portrayal of familiar or new situations can be seen as a quest for adapting. In the context of the exhibition layout, it is critical for this work to be positioned on different surfaces instead of just one. Similarly, Never Be is a striking work that catches our attention with its technique, size, and placement from the moment we enter the exhibition. With this installation, Alicia Eggert encourages viewers to think not only about how the world is but also about how it could be. Vivienne Griffin's composition Shrine of Our Times, is there to help us notice the situations that have been positioned as needs for modern life as we look at the changes in our lives. This work defines the artist's quest for "the power of the individual to change oneself." Defne Tesal's installation Hesitation reflects the state of searching within us, just like Eggert's work represents different choices. This is one of the strongest works of the exhibition, which suggests that adapting could actually be an intermediate state. A corridor is left for viewers to walk around the installation, prompting the question of whether this could be an experiential space for conforming to adapt.
Resistance, which is also present in jobs that seek to adapt, stands out even more in a group of jobs that react to adapt. In a world of changes, uncertainties, and innovations, should we resist and even react instead of adapting? James Thompson's Recording Performance emphasizes the lost states of spaces in urban memory in the face of unwanted changes. The artist takes a critical stance against adapting through this performance. Kelly Richardson's work, Journey To The After, unites three screens hanging side by side, creating a sea and sky. Here, we see tear gas canisters swaying with disturbing sounds and butterflies on them. When looking at this work, it is impossible not to think of this question: Is everything so beautiful when we adapt, or should we believe more in the power of reaction and protest? It is also possible to ask a question similar to this question about Sinan Logie's work, Fluid Structures - Phase 21. Behind the sharp and clear structure, there is a rough and disharmonious state. This work invites you to touch it and walk around it.
In line with all these ups and downs carried within the exhibition itself, when the works come together, they may awaken new emotions in the viewers that the artists could not have foreseen. The exhibition aims to deepen the concept of adapting in an age defined by rapid changes. The viewer who leaves the exhibition and continues with their life may realize the journey of their own, enjoying either adapting or resisting.