Born in İstanbul in 1982. Lives and works in İstanbul.
Hydromancy is a site specific installation thought for the glass house of the Botanical Garden of Lucca. Irem Tok worked with old books collected in Turkey and Italy, microorganisms, illustrations, sculptures and city models in order to form a small fragile habitat that looks like a diorama. Moreover, the artist was particularly fascinated by the pond of the garden, as lately she has a particular interest in collecting water samples. When she examines them in her studio, with microscopes, the diversity of the inhabitants of this invisible world shows her how limited our perception of reality is. The images taken during the examination were implemented with animated characters and became a video which is part of the installation. Irem Tok thinks at Hydromancy as a generative artwork and, for the Canakkale Biennial presentation, she collected water samples and natural elements from the surroundings of the city. In addition to that, she produced new ceramic sculptures inspired by mythological creatures that will meet the ones produced for GIUNGLA at the Botanical Garden. The installation that will arise, will be the match of two different ecosystems (Lucca and Canakkale) and we will witness this gathering like an astronaut who looks at earth from space. Reality, at the end, is only a matter of perspective.
