A Striking Exhibition on Kant and Game Space at Istanbul Gelisim University's SATMER

As part of the SATMER Arts Events organized by Istanbul Gelisim University's Center for Art and Design Practice and Research (SATMER), a solo exhibition by animation artist and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Asst. Prof. Volkan Davut Mengi opened its doors to art enthusiasts. The opening ceremony was attended by Istanbul Gelisim University Faculty of Fine Arts Dean Prof. Şükran Güzin Ilıcak Aydınalp, SATMER Director Asst. Prof. Mustafa Günay, and numerous academics and students. The exhibition, which drew considerable interest, presented 20 works by the artist to visitors.

The exhibition opened with a speech by curator Lecturer Ömer Faruk Söyler, who touched on the artist's academic and artistic background and drew attention to Asst. Prof. Volkan Davut Mengi's interdisciplinary practice.

"Does space precede experience, or does experience shape space?"

Following the opening remarks, artist Volkan Davut Mengi shared the conceptual framework of his project with the audience. In his work titled "Video Games and Kant's Theory of Pure Space," Mengi explained that he revisited the notion of "pure space", as articulated by Immanuel Kant in the Critique of Pure Reason, through the lens of video games, emphasizing that the creative process behind the exhibition was shaped by this philosophical inquiry:
"According to Kant, space is not something derived from experience but an a priori form that serves as its precondition. In this project, I aimed to strip away the aesthetic and narrative layers of video games, leaving behind only the geometric skeleton. When empirical elements such as color, texture, narrative, and interactivity are removed, the pure spatial structure underlying the game becomes visible."
The artist noted that by abstracting video games from their playability, he invites viewers into an intellectual inquiry, framing the exhibition's central question as follows:
"Does space precede experience, or does experience shape space?"

The exhibition features 20 horizontally oriented, framed digital prints measuring 50×70 cm, encompassing a broad technical range, from 3D modeling and rendering to generative artificial intelligence applications, and from inpainting and outpainting to matte painting and digital post-production. This multi-layered production process brought the Kantian concept of a priori space into dialogue with contemporary digital art practices.

Philosophy, Play, and Digital Aesthetics United

The exhibition stands out for its approach to video games not merely as a medium of entertainment, but as a platform for philosophical, aesthetic, and ontological discourse. By reinterpreting Kant's concept of "pure space" through contemporary digital production techniques, the project invites viewers to question both the mechanics of play and the fundamental conditions of perception.
Organized under the umbrella of SATMER, the exhibition offered a compelling example of interdisciplinary production within the university, bringing art and academia together in meaningful dialogue.