The Emotional Trajectory of Traveling
What if we introduced someone who has never been abroad to a completely different culture in a foreign country, how would it affect their emotional state? What are the internal reflections of deciding to travel? What windows open in our minds through the travel experience? Why are airports places where emotional intensity is at its highest? Excitement, adrenaline, sadness, the endless pleasure or curiosity left behind by discovery… Turkish Airlines Corporate Chairman Rafet Fatih Özgür poses these questions one by one, and transforms the answers to a visual experience with new media artist Refik Anadol.
Inviting four different people from various geographies, who have never traveled, to an experience in a location that has a completely different DNA than the region they were accustomed to, this project transforms the mental impressions of travel into a data sculpture. The creative collaboration titled “Inner Portrait”, where digital reflections and the unrestricted universe of imagination converge, turns Turkish Airlines’ mission into a work of art perfectly, while presenting a unique experience as it marks Refik Anadol’s first collaboration using real-time data collected from people.
Now we are en route to Art Basel. We are on a journey towards our inner portrait in this event where the heart of the world’s art scene resides, through a deep exploration of the desire to travel and the human effects arising from this passion. The biological and neurobiological reactions caused by human nature and the exciting influences of change are transformed into a data sculpture with the help of artificial intelligence, bringing forth an innovative experience. We live, feel, interact, experience, and archive. We are on a journey to meet our digital inner portrait.
How did the journey of Inner Portrait begin? Can you tell us about your starting point?
Rafet Fatih Özgür: Actually the journey started with the fact that Turkish Airlines is the airline company that flies to most destinations in the world. We asked ourselves, “What does it mean to fly to most countries, in the eyes of a passenger?” 343 cities, 130 countries, 6 continents; all these numbers are impressive. Yes, but what do they mean for us, those who travel? Our idea was to seek out the answers to these conceptual questions at the beginning of our journey. Again, we asked ourselves, “Each of us experiences something new, something different internally when we embark on a journey. Can we express this difference, this physical experience through data and transform it into a work of art?” In fact, we embarked on this journey with a dream. And we had to entrust it to the most suitable person we could share it with. Refik not only shared the dream but brought it to a completely different level. Now, here we are, together.
How did the working process unfold?
Rafet Fatih Özgür: I think about two, two and a half years ago we started with the initial online meetings. First, we talked about the story, this concept of “Inner-Portrait” in our minds and what it meant to us. How could we collect this data? How could we turn this into a work of art? We even discussed if we can record the process as a documentary later on, and continued with our meetings in İstanbul. At our first meeting we found out that we had chemistry, and felt that we were at the same point, both intellectually and mentally.
Refik Anadol: This is exactly how it unfolded, and today at Art Basel, where the art of the future is being discussed, it is an incredible state and journey to present a work that has never been done before. When we delve into details, we see a very large team that has been traveling for a year. Our meticulousness in selecting these people and collecting data were significant. We didn’t just collect data randomly, but developed studies with neuroscientists in order to be a part of science. After finding these people, we inquired into their emotions… In other words, we proceeded layer by layer. We went through a very exhausting and hectic period. Of course, the possibility of exhibiting it at an event like Art Basel, and the work being the inner portrait of a person, as the name suggests; we pondered whether it could be truly three-dimensional, not just a painting that hangs on a wall or a sculpture.
“I believe airports are some of the most emotional places in the world. They always carry moments of “Welcome” and “Goodbye”. Can be a very heavy or a very happy thing. We were confident that we would prove it, but it was important to base it on science. “
– Refik Anadol
The fact that it is a work based on data collected from brain signals indicates a significant innovation in the genre of this project.
Rafet Fatih Özgür: Perhaps we earned the opportunity to scientifically explain how traveling finds meaning in people’s inner worlds with this project. I hope this becomes a reality soon.
In order to obtain reliable data, what kind of processes did you go through with the people involved in this story? After all, they all have different quests and inputs.
Refik Anadol: First of all, every participant is unique, just like we all are, and every other person is. However, what we are trying to achieve here is to find out how we can record their data in the same way, even though people are different… This is a very different scientific approach. We wanted the participants to comfortably wear this 32-channel brain signal measurement device, and additionally we measured physiological aspects, such as heart rate – it’s like when we talk about having goosebumps, which is something measurable, an electric signal in fact… The devices we used are highly sensitive mechanisms that are capable of fully measuring emotional changes. A very reputable professor from MIT, and highly esteemed scientists from UCFF, whom we’ve been working with for 8 years, participated in this project. We proceeded in consideration of their insights so that what we do wouldn’t be an ordinary data collection. Then, we began our journey to carefully selected places that could show us the change in emotional states of these people through their individual experiences. For instance, going to the rainforest is a completely different experience. Well, the plane arrived somewhere, but it was somewhere that wasn’t an airport. This involved going deep into the heart of Amazon as well. We realized that it was not a problem who people are, where they are from, how old they are. We observed that the same areas of the brain could be activated in the same way for everyone. In fact, this proves how similar people are in certain aspects.
You steered your work from abstract to portrait. I mean, the outcome is a portrait. Could this be an emotional side brought forth by artificial intelligence?
Refik Anadol: One of the places that excited me the most in this project… The concept of portrait has been symbolized with painting, visualized with sculpture for centuries, namely since the Renaissance. But in the 21st century, an era of artificial intelligence and data, the concept of portrait changed completely. At this moment, when you visit the greatest art show of the world, we still haven’t seen a very forward-looking dream of artists in this field for a long time. Actually when looked at that way, it was very entertaining to truly interpret the human portrait. Our previous works were mostly abstract. Those were works filled with feelings that were as abstract as possible. Here you can directly see colors, forms, Istanbul silhouette and various details. This is for renewal, it is a beautiful thing that artists go through challenging periods. This project was also challenging in a good way. Normally, at least in the art scene, it’s not very common to share how it’s done. Artists are reluctant to show the technique so they can remain mysterious. This is the opposite, we decipher how we collect certain data and the way we utilize it. That transparency brings a positive effect along with human nature and emotion to the project. At least we get these reviews from the participants.
You have been talking about the need for democratization of data and artificial intelligence for some time. Why do you think it is so important for data to be open source?
Refik Anadol: I believe artificial intelligence will be seriously problematic unless it is open source. Because artificial intelligence is not an ordinary tool, I mean, we haven’t seen intelligence as a tool in human history. These systems don’t forget, these systems can remember in seconds and operate with logic. Humanity has never encountered something like this. If something like this is happening upon us and this is only for a select group of people, it is very probable that problems will arise. When it becomes open source, and access to code, access to data, access to information processing becomes free for all, then the dangers of that technology gets closer to zero.
Can we say that you are trying to maybe open the code of the human brain through travel and understand who we are and what we experience during the journey?
Rafet Fatih Özgür: It is about what traveling means in our inner world; each of us has a different portrait now, and they are waiting to transpire. Maybe now you feel something different as you travel to a country you’ve never been before but it’s not easy to express, uncover it. We earned the opportunity to transform it into an artwork thanks to this data, this art form. Like I said, it is merely an invitation to travel, the journey actually starts when you walk into this room. Each of them is a unique journey.
By what criteria did you select the participants?
Rafet Fatih Özgür: This was also an lengthy process. As one of our critical heroes, Refik had a significant effect on it. His previous experience in the Amazon and his engagement with the local family made our lives quite easier. Taking them from the Amazon and bringing them to Tokyo, and having that experience created a huge impact. Apart from that, each character was submitted to separate pre-selections and short lists. Refik and the data team provided guidance during the shooting, not only in terms of telling the story but also in ensuring that the story corresponds to the data correctly.
Refik Anadol: The most important criterion was that they had never traveled, so that our measurement could be more substantive. We chose people who had never left their home or city and who were traveling for the first time.
What was your most important criterion when carrying out this project?
Refik Anadol: The data sets I mentioned earlier. Regardless of who those people were, their backgrounds, cultures, age differences, it was very exciting to observe that traveling creates similar feelings, similar brain activity. I don’t know if you remember your first journey in life but I, for instance, experienced so many complex feelings when I moved from Istanbul to Los Angeles – I was both upset and excited at the same time. I believe airports are some of the most emotional places in the world. They always carry moments of “Welcome” and “Goodbye”. Can be a very heavy or a very happy thing. We were confident that we would prove it, but it was important to base it on science.
“Each of us experiences something new, something different internally when we embark on a journey. Can we express this difference, this physical experience through data and transform it into a work of art?” In fact, we embarked on this journey with a dream. And we had to entrust it to the most suitable person we could share it with. Refik not only shared the dream but brought it to a completely different level.”
– Rafet Fatih Özgür
Did this project affect your individual traveling experience?
Refik Anadol: Perhaps traveling becomes simpler for us as the years go by but it was interesting to recall that it was a courageous act. In fact, traveling requires courage. There is no other way of understanding humans, comprehending the world, feeling how big the world actually is. And we can communicate another very important message because it doesn’t matter if I’m an artificial intelligence artist or involved with the digital, the physical world is invaluable after all. For example, the world we are en route offers us so many dreams in the apparent truth, the world we are approaching is becoming individualized. However, how valuable are the unfinished experiences in the physical world, unseen places, unmet people… Can you imagine how many possibilities actually exist? How will we encounter different cultures in a digitalized world? One of the comments I hear over and over again today is that these portraits are reminiscent of the physical world’s value.
How do you think artificial intelligence and data science contribute to art?
Refik Anadol: Presently its contribution to art is being questioned. For the first time machines that don’t forget and systems that can think emerge. It’s not easy to comprehend. I’ve been utilizing artificial intelligence for 8 years and I’ve always considered it a method that pushes my mind’s limits, as an extension of my mind. I imagine it like a brush that doesn’t forget, that can be trained and able to dream. This makes it a limitless, boundless, completely different system of thought that doesn’t experience the troubles of the physical world, and has no problem with gravity. It makes many artists ask the question “What is beyond reality?” and it is a great opportunity to research it and see it holistically. I always think that finding the positive in my life is much more difficult than finding the negative. In my opinion we are living in an era when humanity is completely transformed. I was thinking, from the time I was born as a human, the emergence of the internet, web1, web2, web3, artificial intelligence, quantum computing for instance; these all happened in this lifetime, the last 38 years. What can an artist reflect in this habitat? Most probably, artificial intelligence is more interesting to the incoming artists. Because human language is now transformed into code. We all are becoming able to make a machine do what we want without needing to know how to code. I hope it spreads evenly, reaches everyone equally. This way, imbalance can be prevented.
Will this project involve a travel plan?
Rafet Fatih Özgür: Turkish Airlines is one of the most important platforms in the world and in this sense, we believe that there are many places where this story can extend to. Here we had the opportunity to meet and become acquainted with many leading platforms in the art scene and they projected their excitement even before we elaborated. I suppose you’ll be seeing this work on different continents. In the future perhaps, new pillars of this project will be structured. Wait for Miami, something special can be expected.
Interview by Duygu Bengi