the oracle of Permessus

Betül Aksuthe oracle of Permessus
2024
chatbot (link in Turkish)
Part of Permessus series

the oracle of Permessus is a text-based chatbot that offers an open-ended encounter with the imagined city of Permessus. Rather than providing answers, the oracle responds to questions with fragments, suggestions, and unfinished thoughts, inviting visitors to navigate the city through language and uncertainty.

The work is closely connected to guiding ideas and objects, forming a dialogue between material and digital forms of inquiry. Visitors shape the conversation by asking questions, and Betül continually gathers and updates these inputs, allowing the oracle to grow over time. The chatbot becomes both a character within the city and a system that reflects its evolving structure.

As part of the Permessus series, this work explores how knowledge, like place, is constructed through interaction. The oracle suggests that imagined spaces are not built from certainty but through curiosity, participation, and the willingness to stay with what remains unresolved.