Tracing the culture
- 2. • The project was developed through combining design approach with the perspective of the practice theory and everyday life studies as these particularly approached by Michel de Certeau(1988), Pierre Bourdieu(1996), and Henri Lefebvre (1991). By understanding how culture manifests itself, the changes in notion of culture are explored by studying the dynamics of culture via research of everyday life practices.
- 3. • Turkish coffee fortune telling is a practice to learn the unknown future since the existence of the individual, which is common in almost every society, and has been needed. • Fortune telling in our country is deeply rooted in the traditions of the people with ideas and belief systems like in every other society and culture. It is the practice that reflects the beliefs, norms, expectations, and world view that people and society have through tradition, habits, life styles, mentality, thus it works like a mirror to the cultural identity of that . • In Turkey, reading fortune over a cup of Turkish coffee is a common and widespread practice among friends and within the familiy, a way of sharing thoughts and beliefs, and attitudes towards the future in a particular tradition. • Recently, it is becoming a commercial practice that is a part of everyday consumption (Güngör,2005). The number of cafes with fortune teller(s) is significantly increasing in big cities like Ankara and İstanbul.
- 5. • In our project, we are focusing on the dynamics of culture through studying fortune telling practice over Turkish coffee. Our argument is based on a statement of Wright’s (1998) “Culture is a process of meaning-making.” (7). • We attempt to reflect upon the Turkish culture through meaning- creation process over fortune telling. When a person drinks a cup of Turkish coffee, traces of coffee ground in the cup represent the trace(s)/life path of that person. These traces are interpreted in terms of the person’s identity and future, thus fortune telling practice is a meaning-making process. Each reader creates different interpretations of what they see through the traces of coffee ground. Each interpretation stands for a different meaning. The language used during the reading practice has a potential of reflecting cultural values and norms. Language is important in fortune telling process because metaphors and proverbs/idioms are used, thus these reveal the what is cultural through the use of language.
- 12. 1.Visitors who came to installation are given headphones at the start. 2.When they enter to installation, visitors will encounter the stories and meanings that are created related the fortune on the screen. 3.They will read the language of Turkish coffee fortune telling and they will see cultural values are attached to them. 4.They will proceed the second part of the installation which they will see the opened coffee cups. They will use the headphone to listen each comment on the certain coffee cup. If they want to contribute their own interpretation, visitors will record and leave their meaning They can either leave or choose contribute to installation. 5.They will take their coffees from main desk and drink at sitting area.
- 14. 6.After finishing the coffee, they will give their coffee cup to staff and their email address will be taken. 7.The staff will open the coffee cups and position them in projection area. 8.They will go to projection area and they will record their own meaning creation with their friends. 9.They will see how their own story on the screen. 10.They will later get an email about the process and all recordings about their fortunes.Then can follow the process from website.