waiting II: Darağaç

2018 Performance

Wide daytime view along a narrow residential street lined with low, weathered buildings. A large leafy tree grows from the pavement on the left, while a performer sits on layered blankets and bedding against the wall on the right. A long red rope extends from the performer across the street toward the tree, making the distance between the body and tree visible.

Long view down a narrow residential street beneath the broad canopy of a large tree. A performer sits low against a wall on layered blankets and bedding, partly shaded by the surrounding buildings and foliage. A red rope runs across the pavement toward the tree, while parked vehicles, doorways and worn façades extend into the distance.

Closer frontal view of a performer seated on blankets against a worn exterior wall beneath a barred window. Their knees are drawn toward their torso and their arms rest around their legs; their head turns to one side and their gaze is directed along the street. A red rope tied at one foot extends from their white shoe across the pavement and out of the frame.

Wide daytime view down the residential street, with a performer seated on blankets against a wall at the edge of the road. A red rope stretches diagonally across the pavement between their position and the large tree on the opposite side. Strong sunlight divides the street into bright and shaded areas, with low houses, parked vehicles and a dog farther along the road.

Low view across the street toward blankets and bedding arranged beside a worn wall beneath a barred window. A performer lies almost completely covered by the blankets, with only part of their head visible. A red rope crosses the foreground toward their position, while a dog lies nearby and a brightly painted mural fills a wall farther down the street.

Street-level view in warm, fading daylight. Blankets, cushions, fruit and other belongings are arranged on the pavement against a worn wall, while a light-coloured dog stands nearby. A red rope extends across the ground through the foreground, with the surrounding houses and large tree visible along the street.

Wide view of the residential street in warm evening light. A performer sits on the pavement near the large tree, their body low to the ground and turned toward the street as the red rope extends across the pavement. Weathered one- and two-storey houses, barred windows, a parked white car and overhead cables surround the action.

Photography: 1-2 - Darağaç, 3 - Hande Özbiyik, 4-7 - Darağaç

waiting II: Darağaç questions the notion of waiting, understood both as a verb and a noun, while also exploring the concepts of belonging and connectivity in relation to the recent opening of a Foreigner Office in the neighborhood, where Syrians and other refugees in Izmir wait throughout the day on weekdays to receive their permanent IDs or to sign documents proving that they reside in the city.

Leman S. Darıcıoğlu ties one of their feet to a tree with a 2–3-metre rope and stays there for 24 hours. At the end of the performance, they perform a closing ritual with a horseshoe, candles and sage. At the end of the ritual, they nail the horseshoe to the wall in front of the Foreigner Office.

The waiting series performances deal with 'liminal' stages in which life is unable to be lived but remains biologically alive, as Giorgio Agamben describes in his theoretical book Homo Sacer.