Autoban to Present The Wish Machine in London
Next month at the first-ever London Design Biennale, Istanbul-based design studio Autoban will present “The Wish Machine” — one of 30 responses, from each of the 30 participating countries, to the theme “Utopia by Design”.
The first ever London Design Biennale is set to open in less than two weeks, on 7 September, with the inaugural theme of “Utopia by Design“. Working with the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), multidisciplinary design studio Autoban will present “The Wish Machine“. Turkey is one of 30 participating countries that will respond to theme, marking the 500th anniversary of the publication of Sir Thomas More’s classic book Utopia.
“The Wish Machine” is inspired by the “wish tree”, based on a long tradition of pinning a note on the branch of a tree. This practice dates back to ancient Anatolian faith, across the region and as far back as the Neolithic era. Autoban’s installation is a tunnel set in . Visitors are invited to navigate the space and cast their wishes at the end, where they will be whisked into the transparent tubes. As the contemporary equivalent of the age-old gesture, Autoban founders Seyhan Özdemir and Sefer Çağlar evoke the utopian notion of transcending the past toward a better future.
On the occasion of the London Design Biennale, “The Wish Machine” will be on view in the West Wing G1A at Somerset House from 7–27 September.
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