‘Fortune-Telling through Buildings’ is a fortune telling practice that was employed in ancient civilizations such as Assur, Babylon and Greece. Quoted from Xenocrates, the fortune-teller would interpret the general structure of the building including its columns, façade and the ornaments carved on it.
Words Dash Against the Façade is a free adaptation/interpretation of this ancient practice on the façades of New York City buildings in the presence of a public audience together with Adam Kleinman and Defne Ayas.
Performance, commissioned by Performa11, NYC. With the generous support of SAHA and Moon and Stars Project.
On November 11 at a11.11, a group gathered by Cleopartra’s Needle, an Egyptian obelisk behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art that has been a mysterious presence in Central Park since it was transported from Ottoman Egypt in the late 19th century, for Words Dash Against the Façade, a walking tour hosted by Aslı Çavuşoğlu (and curated by Performa curator Defne Ayas) with the goal of interpreting ornamental facades.