Betül Aksu










Betül Aksu & Max PaulusTinnitus
2019
Interactive installation
Copper wire, conductive thread, cotton thread, cotton fabric, crocodile clips, acrylic sheet, microcontroller, speakers, MP3 player, Arduino software (IDE), Python




Tinnitus recreates the unsettling experience of hearing sound without an external source. Often described as high-pitched ringing or buzzing, tinnitus is a neurological condition that can cause anxiety, disorientation and a sense of helplessness. This installation approaches the condition not as a problem to be solved but as a perceptual state to be acknowledged and understood.

At the center of the work is a handmade sleeping pillow that mimics the environment of a tinnitus patient. Placed on a transparent box revealing its internal components, the pillow emits layered high-frequency tones and background noise. People can interact with the pillow by touch. Conductive thread and copper wire sewn into its surface respond to contact, triggering and altering sounds that reflect patterns reported by real patients.

By allowing viewers to explore the threshold between control and surrender, the work opens a space for reflection on the body’s role in creating and coping with sound. Acceptance becomes both a conceptual theme and a sensory process. The installation questions the boundaries between illness and adaptation, between listening and hearing oneself.



Exhibitions
2021    nothing’s gonna change my world? , gr-und, Berlin
2020   Raumwww, online
2020   The Royal Institution of Great Britain, London
2019    bang.Prix, Studio-X, Istanbul