During a residency at Caravansarai in Istanbul in October, 2010, I sent a paper construction via sandal (a small ferry boat) across the Haliç (Golden Horn) and then set it free into the river.
The construction was inspired by the architecture of Istanbul but references the significance of the dome throughout time and across cultures. The trip across and into the Haliç, which divides the two sections of the European side of Istanbul, acknowledges the importance of the Haliç to the identity of the city and evokes the transfer of material, ideas, religion and power via the river and as embodied in the domed buildings that have come to symbolize Istanbul.
The project was also an exercise in inserting site-specific artwork into the fabric of a city for a brief period of time and with no predetermined outcome. Far from being an individual effort, the event required the assistance of numerous local people and inspired an unexpected level of interaction with the artwork.