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LOOP is a unique exhibition at the intersection of upcycling and digital art. Supported by the British Council, the project opens a collective space to reflect on sustainable living through art.
Supported by the British Council’s Creative Collaborations Grant Programme, the Sustainable Life Through Arts digital artist residency—organised in partnership with the Sustainable Women Artists’ Cooperative – SUSAKO and the UK-based Centre for Creative and Cultural Industries – C4CCI —culminates in a multi-layered exhibition following six months of creative development.
Bringing together artists working in digital and upcycled mediums, the exhibition invites viewers to witness the powerful dialogue between creativity, sustainability, and nature.
📅 Date: 26 March 2025
📍 Venue: Atatürk and Milli Mücadele Memorial House, Izmit
🕠 Time: 17:30 – Opening | 18:30 – Panel | 19:30 – Reception
Curated by Ayla Torun, PhD
Movement exists in every moment of life. Every entity in nature completes its lifespan in a constant state of motion, sustaining its existence by interacting with its surroundings. When it reaches its end, it returns to nature, sowing the seeds of new beginnings.
Similarly, technology is in perpetual motion, evolving and expanding its influence in daily life. Digital art, as an aesthetic expression within this cycle, pushes the boundaries of technology and transforms artistic forms of expression. This synergy between art and technology finds its rhythm, shaping its own space in harmony.
However, the only thing left outside this continuous cycle of renewal and transformation is inorganic waste. Industrially produced and non-biodegradable, these materials pile up like an overwhelming specter. Carved into the earth like unhealed wounds, yet unable to integrate with nature, they stand as stark reminders of human impact.
In İzmit, a city at the heart of Turkey’s industrialisation, one only needs to observe carefully, listen to the sounds of nature and the city, to contemplate and deeply sense this interaction. In the Loop exhibition, artists who focus on their environment and the unique sounds of İzmit breathe new life into industrial waste, transforming it into upcycled artworks and reinterpreting these pieces through digital art.
This project aims to create a space where industrial waste can be reimagined as artistic expression, merging digital and physical art. Emphasising the power of creativity to drive positive environmental change, the exhibition invites audiences to experience it in both digital and physical formats.
The realisation of this project in İzmit is particularly significant, serving as a reminder that movement never ceases, that the expectation of a sustainable future persists, and that art can be a transformative force in this pursuit. Through the materials they use, the technologies they employ, and the works they create, artists demonstrate that transformation and cycles are always possible.
Loop, the concept that gives this exhibition its name, continue in harmony—through the past, present, and future. After all, nature will always do its part.
Humanity believes it can control nature; that it can shape it, limit it, possess it, or even save it. Yet every boundary drawn is, in fact, a wall built between ourselves and our own future.
This piece illustrates how, by confining itself within intellectual and physical limits, humanity deepens the chasm between itself and nature. No matter how many rules are set or how much interference occurs, nature finds its own way. Beneath the grass, roots continue to grow, and life thrives beyond the imaginary lines we draw.
Nature was here long before humankind, and it will remain long after. Recycling, environmental approaches, or sustainability practices are not about saving nature; they are necessary for our own survival. Nature does not vanish under human harm; it merely changes form. Perhaps that is because as a generous host, nature keeps giving humanity another chance.
Yet when the game ends, nature always prevails. The real challenge is for humanity to see itself not as nature’s opponent, but as part of it, and to learn to adapt in order to endure.
The industry and intensive industrial activities on the shores of the Gulf of Izmit increase the amount of toxic substances such as Mercury, Nickel, Copper and Arsenic, as well as metal and plastic waste in the gulf. This situation creates a new area of struggle for micro-living modules in the seas as well as humans. While many micro-living creatures in the seas create a natural mechanism for the transformation of toxic metals into harmless forms, they also pave the way for the formation of new habitats.
The philosophical basis of the work is shaped within the framework of Umwelt theory. This theory expresses the way organisms of a certain species experience the world. It states that our world is not a unified and objectively observable whole, but consists of the subjective impressions of its countless and diverse inhabitants. It is clear that the world of emotions and experiences of a microorganism is very different from that of a human. The work questions the impact of industrial waste in Izmit on humans and microorganisms through different forms of experience. The work reveals the transformation between organic and inorganic through micro-living creatures and industrial waste in the sea. With the structured arrangement, the overlapping and separating aspects of industrial waste in different perception worlds are presented to the audience.
The technical framework of the work is shaped by artificial intelligence. The dataset containing plankton, mercury, nickel, arsenic, copper, metal, plastic and underwater visuals is trained with artificial intelligence and representations are created. The resulting visuals are animated with Gen-3 Alpha (runway) and edited in After Effects and Premier Pro programs. In the sound design of the work, in addition to atmospheric themed abstract sounds, there are also underwater, metal and industrial concrete sounds.
Two-channel video installation
The AI-driven revival of industrial waste is not merely a reshaping of neglected materials into digital projections but also a rediscovery of their lost identities and the environmental burdens we have forgotten. This video installation reintroduces the traces of waste in our environmental and collective memory through digital forms, transforming these once-ignored industrial remnants into meaningful entities through the collaboration of humans and machines. While humans document and photograph these discarded materials to create a dataset, the machine processes and reshapes this visual data through AI, generating a “digital rebirth.” Enhanced by the ambient sounds of İzmit, these digital projections allude to both the city’s industrial history and the environmental weight of its waste.
In the first video channel, the AI-generated digital projections dynamically interact with İzmit’s industrial sounds. This interaction evokes contemplation on the environmental burden of waste and its silent persistence. Using a dataset collected from İzmit’s industrial waste, AI reshapes these images into digital forms. These forms, responding to the recorded industrial sounds, appear to “breathe” or “come alive,” visualizing the presence, disappearance, and lingering impact of industrial waste in modern society. The digitally simulated “industrial cycles” create a digital biosphere where nature and human influence continuously feed into one another.
The second video channel presents the city’s recyclable waste data as a system based on numbers, time, and networks. Highlighting that waste transformation is not solely a physical process but also one that leaves a digital imprint, it redefines industrial waste not as mere physical masses but as conceptual entities that mark their own traces and shape the city’s collective memory.
Digital print and sound
Inspired by the map of İzmit, this linear representation has been transformed into a three-dimensional model and evolved into a multi-layered mycelium structure through manipulation with İzmit’s environmental sounds. While the organic network of mycelium reflects the tension and harmony between İzmit’s natural environment and industrialization, each sound manipulation serves as a visual record of how the city transforms within this balance. Plastic Mycelium challenges human consumption habits, presenting a speculative mirror that invites the viewer to become the architect of the future.
The Plastic Mycelium project highlights the excessive plastic waste production of today and questions its transformative potential in shaping our future. In nature, mycelium forms a symbiotic network that sustains life, and in this project, it is reinterpreted through the texture of translucent plastic bottles.
By drawing a parallel between plastic waste and the interconnected, organic structure of mycelium, the project invites us to imagine how these materials might influence future societies. These translucent textures represent both the transparency of industrial consumption and a new form of recycling that seamlessly integrates with nature.
Deconstruction is a digital project that aims to dissect, reconstruct, and question the fabric of reality by breaking down video images into layers. Inviting the viewer to detach from conventional perceptions, it fragments the layers and meanings within images, merging the philosophy of deconstruction with the layered construction of time and transforming it into sustainable digital art.
Fragmented images, sounds, and segmented time are treated as elements that can be reshaped upon the human body. Reality ceases to be a fixed and immutable structure; instead, it becomes a sequence of layers that can be unraveled and reconfigured. Each layer reveals a different facet of existence, and every deconstruction within the body’s own circulation pathways initiates a new creative process. As images, sounds, and the flow of time break free from conventional order, they give rise to new meanings.
The linear nature of time is disrupted; the body is reconstructed from different angles and moments. Images are distorted, and sounds sometimes linger unexpectedly within the flow. Yet, every rupture is not an absence but a fissure where meaning is reborn.
Deconstruction also invites the viewer to confront their perception of reality. It demonstrates that not only meanings but also perceptions can shift, and that each rupture signifies the beginning of a new creation.
Digital collage, Foil print
Throughout history, İzmit has carried many identities, preserving the traces of the past within its present landscape. Nicomedia CCLXIV brings together this multilayered structure, uniting different eras of the city into a single composition. The title references the founding of Nicomedia in 264 BCE, one of the first metropolises of the Roman Empire.
Created using digital collage techniques, this piece assembles the building blocks of İzmit from past to present, making the complex relationship between history, culture, and industry visible. The Seasons Sculptures from the Roman era, the Pediment Column that rises in the background connecting past and present, the İzmit Clock Tower—a symbol inherited from the Ottoman period—and the gears representing modern industry all serve as reflections of the values the city has gained and lost over time.
A gear splashing water symbolizes the Marmara Sea, trapped under the weight of industrialization, while the İzmit Clock Tower, enclosed within it, struggles to maintain the city’s historical heritage amid this overwhelming presence. Kocaeli, a hub of industry, is also a city rich in history and natural beauty, yet constrained by its industrial identity. The leaping female figure represents us—those who seek to connect with both the past and the present within this intricate structure. The Seasons Sculptures, shifting from yellow to red, emphasize cycles of change, while pişmaniye, a traditional İzmit delicacy, reminds us that cultural heritage is not just a flavor but an essential element of the city’s identity.
Despite being overshadowed by heavy industry, İzmit remains a city with a rich historical and cultural legacy, waiting to be rediscovered. Nicomedia CCLXIV asserts that İzmit is more than just an industrial city; with all its layers, it still has many stories to tell.
Curated by
Dr. Ayla Torun
Digital Artists
• Alp Yüksel
• Ezgi Şen Atiker
• Gözde Betülay Yorulmaz
• Melisa Kılıç San Bento
• Özüm Naz Çelik
• Sema Özevin
Upcycling Artists
• Aliye Güngör
• Büşra Bulut Doğan
• Fethiye Kulaksız
• Filiz Argun
• Filiz Altuğ Kaya
• Hanife Altınay
• Naciye Özdemir
• Nurhan Gündoğdu
• Saadet Uğuz
• Selma Erden
The artworks were created in formats such as video art, installation, new media, and XR. Each piece presents a unique interpretation of sustainability.
This initiative is open to digital artists working with sustainability. Stay tuned for our next open call.
& Exhibition
The Arts for Sustainable Living project is supported by the British Council’s Creative Collaborations Grant Programme.
Formed through international collaboration, this initiative promotes cultural dialogue and social awareness through art.
Whether you’re looking to collaborate on a creative project, learn more about our work, or explore partnership opportunities, we’d love to connect. Reach out today to see how we can create something extraordinary together.
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