Material: Synthetic Objects

Contemporary Art and Ecological Explorations ( Production Workshop for Artists)

“Material: Synthetic Objects”

Workshop Facilitator: Didem Erbaş

Date: June 26 - 29, 2025

Time: 19:00 – 21:00

As the boundaries between the natural and the artificial continue to blur in today’s world, new materials and technologies are not only transforming objects but also reshaping ways of thinking. The synthetic is no longer merely an imitation—it is a site of production for the original, the unknown, and the yet-to-be-named. This workshop departs from this shifting understanding to explore how traces of the future emerge in the present, and how processes of destruction and reconstruction can be transformed into material narratives.

How is the future excavated? Is an archaeology of what has not yet happened possible? How do artificial materials and synthetic forms shape the landscapes we imagine? Can ecological collapse, technological waste, abandoned infrastructures, or speculative geographies be reread through art? Thinking through materials, playing with space, excavating the future, and looking at the present from a distance are among the workshop’s core approaches.

Together with participants, the workshop will develop theoretical discussions as well as visual, spatial, and textual production processes; establishing a collective ground for thinking and making around the material-politics relationship, speculative strategies for future-oriented art, and posthuman aesthetics.

Didem Erbaş is an artist born in Istanbul, where she currently lives and works. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Painting from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and a Master's degree in Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design from Sabancı University. Her work focuses on the sociopolitical issues of her home country, Turkey. Central themes in her practice include geography, housing, tracking, and the transformation of space, as well as architectural structures, shifting perspectives, and the human impact on nature. She explores the intersections of war strategies, drones, and the micro-worlds of small terrestrial creatures, tracing the background of human-induced destruction.

Erbaş has participated in numerous exhibitions in Turkey, the USA, London, Berlin, and Paris. She took part in a residency program at the Cité Internationale des Arts in France, supported by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV). From January to February 2024, she continued her research at Delfina Foundation in London, supported by the SAHA Foundation. Most recently, in 2024, she participated in the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York with the support of the Turkish-American Society. She is currently pursuing a Proficiency in Art (equivalent to a practice-based PhD) at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University.

* This workshop is intended for participants whose artistic practices involve synthetic objects or who wish to initiate a research and production process in this field. Throughout the four-day workshop, participants are expected to attend regularly. Participation is free and limited to 15 people.

* To apply, please complete the pre-registration form via the “Register” button on the event page. Registration will open one week before the first session (June 19, 2025, at 19:00), and the “Register” button will be accessible from this date onward. During pre-registration, applicants are required to submit a brief statement outlining their artistic practices and motivation for joining the workshop. Applications will be reviewed to ensure a balanced participant profile, and selected candidates will receive an invitation via email.

Workshop Program

- Thursday, June 26, 2025 /  19:00 – 21:00 / On Production and Material (Online)
In this session, artists will share their creative practices and material discovery processes. We will reflect on their experiences and approaches, gaining a personal perspective on artistic expression.

- Friday, June 27, 2025 /  19:00 – 21:00 / Concepts and Production Processes for Participants (Online)
After learning about the materials participants are interested in, we will hold short presentations to discuss their goals for joining the workshop and the ways they plan to engage with synthetic objects and materials.

- Saturday, June 28, 2025 / 19:00 – 21:00 / The Possibilities of Material (Online)
This session will focus on how artists from different disciplines use materials in innovative and sustainable ways. We will explore where the “synthetic object” stands as an artistic and political expression through case studies and examples.

- Sunday, June 29, 2025 / 19:00 – 21:00 / On Display Practices (Online)
In the final session, we will come together to discuss how participants envision presenting the works or research projects they developed using “synthetic objects” as a material or concept.