Yaprak Sayar

“950:20” is an installation and a musical instrument built and performed by Yaprak Sayar. It is the blueprint of a long electrically amplified monochord with an unstable tonality, that oscillates through electromagnetic feedback and heats all the way up to 950 degrees Celsius until it becomes incandescent and glows. This playing method and the intense variations on the heat give the 950:20, its distinct sonic character. The temperature range it operates in, being the stable element, is addressed as the “ambitus” of the instrument. An interplay between electricity, electromagnetism, physical tension and heat marks the space where Yaprak performs a balancing act in sound that transforms surprisingly into light.

Yaprak Sayar is an artist based in the Hague, Netherlands, originally from Istanbul, Turkey. In her works, she combines multiple disciplines in a very personal way; pursuing a scientific and an artistic research process and a path of fascination of its revelations. Yaprak holds a bachelor’s degree in Painting, and a second one in Artscience. Having a background in Visual Arts, her artistic curiosity expanded in a larger field that embraces sound, performance art and music. Recently, she produces electro-acoustic musical instruments and sound systems that finds inspiration in various artistic fields such as installation, sound, performance arts and kinetic sculpture. She experiments with electricity, electromagnetism, physical tension and heat as well as the “unpredictable”, “uncontrollable” and “risky” elements in the context of a performative instrument.