In fact, we think of empathy only as an interaction, a bond between human and human, but empathy is with us at any moment.
As we lived in buildings that started to be erected more and higher every day, we moved away from nature. Actually, we're kind of forgetting our essence. "Earthable", designed by Aslıhan Demirtaş in the 5th Istanbul Design Biennial with the theme "Empathy Revisited", derives from the verb "to earth". A table, an agricultural field, a garden, a pot full of soil borrowed from a local farm in Istanbul, and trillions of living bacteria, nematodes, protozoa and miles of mycorrhiza nests are an event that travels between them. The fact that the chair we sit is full of soil emphasizes the essence of the city we live on. The fact that the table we eat is filled with soil resembles an agricultural field, while in fact it shows us that every meal we eat comes out of a material and that material comes out of a soil. In addition, table and chairs are made from a material whose raw material is tree. This design, which emphasizes the value of the land in the city, actually reminds us of our essence that we started to forget due to urbanization. Reflecting the importance of biodiversity, this work recreates the empathy between soil and people.
In addition, Earthable will undergo a process of production and regeneration, interacting with pollen, the sun and humans throughout during the biennial.
