A red web-surface seeping into the white wall guides us to a red room woven with delicate threads that challenge our perception of depth. This space is Chiharu Shiota’s 1:1 scale installation titled “Between Worlds” at Istanbul Modern. The installation consists of a spatial web crafted from red threads. The surfaces, formed through the repetitive weaving of units, are layered on top of one another to create multidimensional depth. The systematic weaving transforms into controlled chaos through this layering. Visitors experience this web-space by following a fixed route set by the artist, where they become “performers.” Walking turns into a performance.

Within the chaos of this web, there are glitches—gaps that offer an experience similar to time travel. When one “performer” observes another from a different point along the route, time seems to fast-forward or rewind, creating encounters with other moments or fragments of the experience. Similar glitches appear in front of the museum’s security cameras, where the camera’s gaze monitors the performers’ actions. Consequently, the sense of touch is excluded from this interaction that is solely based on visual stimuli.

In these glitch-filled red spaces, suspended “in between,” abandoned suitcases emerge. Some, bearing name tags, are biographical objects hidden within the webs. As a symbol of travel, “the suitcase” takes on an identity by borrowing from the carrier’s. Through the emotions and memories they carry, these transformed memory boxes redefine concepts like home, belonging, and identity. 

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