The Art of Driving by Lexus and Wallpaper*

A wizard with light and shapes, Washington-based Yurukoglu creates mesmerising visuals using Perspex, glass and projections. With an unerring eye for drama, she transforms large spaces into psychedelic, geometric light shows. Here we catch up with Yurukoglu…

Wallpaper*: Can you tell us about your installation?   
Bahar Yurukoglu: It’s in two parts, a video projection and a site-specific installation. The latter is made out of transparent coloured Perspex in various shapes and sizes. The plastic was installed into the walls, floors and ceilings at predetermined coordinates. In the studio I constructed temporary still lifes using coloured translucent plastic and photographed them. These images became the source for the video projection thrown on top of the installation. The projection saturates the space as it reacts to the Perspex and creates a constantly shifting source of light that refracts, reflects and casts its own projections. The concept came from the way cars are often advertised driving through a dramatic landscape. I used the Perspex to create the landscape and approached the car as I would a piece of Perspex, as an object that reacts to light.

W*: Is there a correlation between car design and your installations?
BY: Both are concerned with creating an immersive experience in a space and both share a concern for form, shape, texture, line and colour. A car designer thinks about the movement of the car and how it feels inside. I think about the space around the car and how it feels. Both consider luxury, too. To me luxury means being immersed in something amazing. 

W*: What elements of the Lexus ‘amazing control’ concept did you find inspiring?
BY: For me ‘amazing control’ is about determining the way people experience a space. That’s what I try to achieve, control over a space to create an amazing experience. 

W*: You work a lot with light. Are car lights an inspiration?
BY: I like the movement car lights give to cities at night and also how they act as spotlights to darkness on rural roads.