Lax, the loose machine, became obsessed with the level difference at PASAJ’s Barın Han venue (just as he had fixated on the sheets of paper spread out on the tables at the previous Tarlabaşı restaurant space, where he had covered the entire venue up to waist height with semi-transparent paper). Here, upon entering through the door, you descend three narrow steps to the floor, and the large enclosed balcony at the back is another (invisible) step higher. During the “Small Things” artist-in-residence program, Lax aims to connect these two levels—the large balcony step aligned with the final step before reaching the ground.

 

Through experiments with the temporary, metastable alignment between the two levels, and through small interventions that might emerge from collaborations with various performative agents... The experiments continue to explore the concept of posthuman metastability, which has evolved from UNVEIL’s previous projects: simultaneously and at every moment (both)/(what) consistent, stable, balanced, and alive, (both)/(what)/(and) yet the opposite.

 

TATLI ŞİXOİD 😍🫠1423 The Lax UNVEIL project proposes an environmental manifestation that emerges from an investigation into states of drifting beyond the boundaries of two distinct states.In this workshop, which follows a 3-week + 1-week schedule, participants take part in and/or observe the activities of Mk, Lax, and others on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. On the first Tuesday, the Alignment Experiment Sets—which form the project’s framework—are set up in the space, and the experiments begin.

​The studio is open to visitors three days a week, and every Saturday, visitors are invited to attend public programs such as performances, workshops, exhibition tours, and artist talks. During the final week of the three-week program, the performances created throughout the live process and the final versions of the documentation are exhibited. 

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Mk’s practice is a research project known as “mikaye.” mikaye is a schizoplane where fictional characters—including Mk—are interconnected. In mikaye, the characters live and create together. Although each may have a distinct name, none possesses a clear, fixed appearance, mode of production, or identity. They enjoy flowing into one another, diving into one part of the plane and emerging from another persona, sometimes remaining deep within for months, only to be presumed lost. Mk earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) and a Master’s degree with a thesis titled “Body-Space Hybridisation in the Context of the Postorganic Paradigm”; he also received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from Yildiz Technical University (YTÜ) for his research titled “The Posthuman Body as an Interdisciplinary Concept in Contemporary Art.”  Mk, who was accepted into the Central Saint Martins MFA Program on the strength of the same research, received the American Turkish Society’s Artist Support Award in 2021 and participated in the School of Visual Arts, New York’s Artist Residency Project as a visiting artist. In 2022, she led video performance workshops as part of the 17th Istanbul Biennial’s “What Do Birds Think?” project. Mk, who participated in the SAHA Studio Artist-in-Residence Program in 2025 and led workshops on performance art at the Universidade Lusófona de Lisboa, continues her artistic and academic research through collaborations with Performistanbul and at Haliç University.
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