GRADS IN THE NEWS
The New York Public Library’s newest branch, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) opened in June 2021, and Hayal Pozantı’s piece “Instant Paradise” is a permanent part of it. Pozanti states that she was chosen for this honor because of her interest in humanity’s relationship to technology and exploring that through language and encryption. The piece encrypts dates that are twelve milestones for the global history of written communication and is comprised of 95 individual pieces of fiberboard that come together like a puzzle in an 85 x 17-foot space. Pozantı says she chose these milestones to celebrate written communication as a global phenomenon that the human species developed together.
The relationship between Pozantı’s invented language (also called Instant Paradise), her research process and the fact that the piece was going to be displayed at a library rendered the work a perfect meeting of art and writing. Pozantı is exhilirated by the fact the piece will be there for hundreds of years - a time scale hard to comprehend.
Pozantı relays that she fondly remembers the RC library. “Having access to that library while growing up has informed my love of libraries and books and has contributed to my passion for this project.” She recently displayed new paintings at Art Basel Miami and a solo exhibition in the beginning of 2022.
Published February 2022
