I am focusing on a new direction in my art making. Though I have never seen myself as an artist associated with a single medium, my primary concentration in my undergraduate studies was painting. Since graduation in 2002 I have continued to paint, but have increasingly produced works that are sculptural and interdisciplinary in nature. One of the primary inspirations for this shift in focus has been the result of looking for ways to incorporate my personal family history as a second-generation traditional Mevlevi whirling dervish into my art practice. In the last 2 years, I have been working on multi-sensory sculptural installations with HD video, photography, animated bullet time photography, HD stop motion animation (produced with a digital SLR camera), binaural recording, costumes, reclaimed materials, concrete structures, and live performance. Many of these processes are visible in my 2008 installation Time Machine which was created in collaboration with artist Derek Hunter. It featured a film made from a custom circular bullet time camera consisting of 65 disposable cameras fixed to a 360 degree rail made from reclaimed lumber, activated by electromechanical solenoids. The photographs feature myself whirling. They were animated in a sequence, giving the audience the visual experience of revolving around a whirling dervish, caught in a single moment. The film was projected in a round yurt-like viewing structure, that is reminiscent of structures built by nomadic Turkic tribes. I soaked some of the repurposed lumber used in our construction with scented oils I remember from whirling events in Vancouver when I was 2 years old. The soundtrack was binaurally recorded, combining traditional chanting and singing, breathing, and wind harp. The soundtrack was created while whirling and wearing binaural recording equipment. On the back exterior of the yurt, viewed through a crack in the planks, was a short stop frame animation loop, called The Happiest Molecule of All. The music for the installation of this tiny loop was a traditional zikr (specifically intended to treat mental illness) from the album by Dr. Oruç Güvenc & Tümata, called Ocean of Remembrance. The concept was to attempt to translate the recognized restorative energy of traditional whirling through technology, allowing the viewer to have a positive emotional and physical response.

The traditional form of Turkish Mevlevi whirling, practiced since the 13th century, claims to be able to transmit healing energy to human beings present. Whether this is a metaphorical or a physical claim is difficult to prove. I am currently attempting to recreate the Backster Effect (in an inspired accidental discovery in 1966, Cleve Backster used a galvanometer on his tropical house plant and discovered it to be sentient) in order to see if the historically noted positive energy transmitted from whirling can be detected by plants. An original form of whirling in Mongolia is thought to be still practiced by nomadic tribes as a private healing ceremony. Though the connection between these tribes and what is recognized as traditional whirling in Turkey has yet to be academically confirmed, there is a similar emphasis on the potential for physical healing in the ceremonies of the Mevlevi Sufi dervishes. I am traveling to Mongolia in May 2010, to see if I can learn more about their traditional whirling practice.

I have also been working on the New York 2009 living experiment Waterpod™ Project. Mary Mattingly, an artist I have been working with since we met at the Yale Summer School of Art Norfolk program in 2001, originally created this project. I was the first artist she invited to work on Waterpod™ with her. I was involved in all aspects of the concept, design, construction, permitting, web presence, and logo and as a resident. I also continue to manage the Waterpod™ online virtual archive. We are currently producing a retrospective of the project at Exit Art in New York for January 2010, and looking at what form the next incarnation of Waterpod™ will take.