Complete Incomplete

2019 Performance
Exterior view of B2 House set among olive trees and surrounding vegetation. The two-storey building combines thick walls faced with irregular pale stone, exposed concrete slabs, broad terraces and large floor-to-ceiling glass openings. Its horizontal levels project into the trees beneath a clear blue sky.
Interior view through a floor-to-ceiling glass wall toward olive trees, the blue Aegean Sea and the mountainous outline of Lesbos across the water. Reflections on the glass layer parts of the interior over the terrace, trees, sea and distant island.
Wide interior view of the small circular stone structure built within B2 House. Its low wall is constructed from the same type of irregular pale stone and with the same building method as the existing stone walls of the house. Two metal chairs stand beside and partly behind it and a large metal bowl rests on the floor in front. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass opening, olive trees descend toward the blue sea and Lesbos.
View through a low opening in the small stone structure toward two people seated face to face at close distance. The nearer person is seen from behind; beyond them, the performer’s face and upper body are framed by the opening, with their eyes directed toward the person opposite. Irregular pale stones frame the opening on all sides.
Overhead view of two small transparent bowls placed side by side on the speckled floor. One contains dark rounded objects and the other contains smaller reddish-brown pieces.
Photography: Gülbin Eriş

"This house is not in a state that seeks to be 'completed,' but rather embraces its incompleteness. It does not aim for infinite transparency of the self towards the other, endless union, endless sharing, or endless consumption. Instead, it invites one to be content with what is at hand, to look at the sky, the sea, the trees, the soil, and to stand still. Here, desire does not chase its impossible missing object; it lives within itself."

Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu

Close overhead view of the curved wall of the small structure, built from irregular pale stones fitted and stacked in rough horizontal layers in the same manner as the stone walls of B2 House. The masonry encloses an area of speckled floor, where a small wooden six-sided die rests close to the inner edge.
Photography: Gülbin Eriş
Close view of the performer’s bare forearm reaching horizontally through an opening in the small stone structure, the palm turned upward as they carry several loose stones in their hand. Irregular pale masonry surrounds the arm, while the rest of the performer’s body remains concealed behind the wall.
Wide view across the open interior toward olive trees, the sea and distant land beyond the glass façade. The small stone structure occupies the left foreground, while only the performer’s bare feet and part of their white-clothed legs extend from behind it. A large metal bowl rests nearby on the floor.
Low view of the performer lying on their back in white clothing beside the stone structure, raising one arm vertically and holding a small stone above their face. Their head rests against the floor and their eyes follow the raised hand, while the rough pale masonry rises behind them.
Close view of the performer lifting both forearms overhead and bringing their hands together around several small stones. Tattoos are visible along both forearms against the softly blurred stone wall behind them.
Overhead view into the circular stone structure. A small wooden six-sided die stands alone on the speckled floor near the centre, surrounded by the irregular ring of rough pale stones.
Rear full-body view of the performer standing barefoot in loose white clothing before a floor-to-ceiling glass opening, lifting both arms vertically overhead and bringing their hands together around a small stone. Silvery-green olive branches fill the foreground of an expansive view across the blue Aegean Sea toward the mountainous outline of Lesbos.
The performer sits cross-legged on the floor in loose white clothing beside the rough stone wall, their torso folded slightly forward. Their head and gaze are lowered toward both hands as they hold and handle a small object between their legs. Sunlight enters from the open façade and crosses the floor beside their body.
Photography: Gülbin Eriş

After a year spent exploring notions of endless repetition and studying feelings of exhaustion and impossibility, the artist carries these ideas forward in Complete Incomplete. The performance emerges from the architecture of B2 House and its surroundings. Olive trees, the nearby island of Lesbos, home of the first well-known lesbian poet Sappho, and pieces of stranded refugee boats inform the work. Through these elements, the performance questions exposure and openness, the desire to remain with oneself, and the acceptance of human deficiency, of always being incomplete.

Each day, the artist begins by rolling a six-sided die. The result determines the day's action. Each symbol on the die corresponds to one of six actions designed by the artist: sitting in the small stone house, built by the artist together with local masons using the same type of stone and construction method as B2 House; carrying one small stone; counting; reading selected excerpts from Sappho's poems; washing hands with water; or, if alone, waiting without waiting, and if someone sits across from the placed chair, offering to share secrets. Through this structure, the performance also explores unpredictability as experienced through the body.

During the month-long performance, B2 House was open to visitors. The performance was simultaneously broadcast at Bilsart, Istanbul, and, on Bilsart's closing days, on Performistanbul's YouTube channel.

Overhead view into the small circular stone structure, showing its irregular pale stone perimeter enclosing an otherwise empty area of speckled floor. The rough masonry matches the stone construction of the existing walls of B2 House.
Photography: Gülbin Eriş
Close overhead view of a small wooden die resting on the speckled floor beside the rough stones of the circular structure. A dark symbol is visible on the upward-facing side of the die.
Photography: Gülbin Eriş
Wide view of the performer seated low on the floor and partly concealed behind the small stone structure. Their white-clothed body and bare feet extend from one side of the wall, while a metal bowl rests nearby and a small object lies farther into the open space.
Vertical view of the performer seated low on the floor behind the edge of the stone structure, which conceals part of their body. Wearing loose white clothing and barefoot, they sit with one knee raised and their torso leaning slightly toward the masonry. Their head turns toward the open room and their gaze is directed beyond the frame.
Close vertical view of the performer reaching one bare arm upward along the edge of the rough stone structure. Their hand extends over the top and makes contact with the uneven stones, while the rest of their body remains hidden behind the wall.
The performer sits on the floor with their back against an existing rough stone wall of B2 House, wearing loose white clothing with one leg extended and the other bent. A large metal bowl rests in their lap as one hand reaches into the water. Their head and gaze are directed downward toward the bowl. The wall behind them uses the same type of stone and construction method as the small stone structure.
Close view of the performer’s bare feet positioned beside a large metal bowl containing cloudy water, documenting the bodily interaction with water within the performance sequence. One foot is close to the rim, while part of a printed sheet lies on the speckled floor in the foreground.
Wide interior view of the performer standing barefoot in loose white clothing near the open glass façade, extending both arms horizontally from the shoulders. Their face turns slightly to one side and their gaze crosses the space. The low circular stone structure and metal bowl occupy the floor behind them, while olive trees, bright sky and the Aegean Sea extend beyond the terrace.
A white printed page stands upright against the rough stone wall. Several short blocks of text are arranged vertically down the sheet, while the surrounding stone surface and speckled floor remain otherwise bare.
Close overhead view of the performer’s hand reaching down to the speckled floor, where one fingertip follows a network of pale linear marks and repeated short strokes. The accumulated marks spread across the surface around the finger, while part of the performer’s white-clothed leg and bare foot remain visible at the upper edge.
Close view of the performer lying on their side on the speckled floor in white clothing, lowering their face close to the ground. Their eyes are directed toward their hands as they hold and manipulate a small pale object immediately in front of their face.
Overhead view of a white printed sheet lying flat on the speckled floor with a small pale stone placed on top of it. Lines of printed text run down the page, with handwritten or drawn markings visible around its edges.
High-angle view of the performer lying face down on the outdoor terrace in white clothing, their body extended along the ground with both arms bent outward beside them. Large irregular areas of water spread across the pale surface around the body, with several small objects scattered nearby.
Photography: Gülbin Eriş
BILSART
Documentation of the Bilsart broadcast of Complete Incomplete in a darkened space. A large projected image shows the performer in white clothing seated beside the small stone structure at B2 House, while the surrounding room remains mostly dark.
Photography: Bilsart
Presentations
Quartet, a selection from the B3 Collection, curated by Sinan Eren Erk, Bilsart, Istanbul, TR, 2023
Complete Incomplete, curated by Performistanbul, B2 House, Büyükhüsun Village, Çanakkale, TR, 1–31 August 2019, with the cooperation of Performistanbul and Bilsart, simultaneously broadcast at Bilsart, Istanbul, and, on Bilsart's closing days, on Performistanbul's YouTube channel
Credits
Complete Incomplete, by Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu, performance, 1 month, 6 days a week, 6 hours a day, 2019
With the cooperation of Performistanbul and Bilsart
Acknowledgements: Ayda Bayram, Azra İşmen, Büyükhüsun Village people, Ceren Taşkent, Enver Darıcıoğlu, Eylül Deniz, Hülya Darıcıoğlu, Selman Bilal, Zeynep Tetik
Performance Necropolitics Ghosts Exhaustion Research Long-durational Site-specific Rock / Stone
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