Thunderstorm on a Clear, Bright Day

Ashley’s film projected onto the ceiling of a stairwell in the Sinop Fortress Prison.

Sean commissioned artist Ashley Hunt to create this work for the annual Sinople Art Installation in Sinop, Turkey in 2012. The annual site-specific show invites independent curators to commission works within an abandoned prison complex. Sean co-curated the installation with the late Janet Kaplin.

The Sinop Fortress Prison in Sinop, Turkey

Sean urged Ashley to spend time in a local prison as he conceived his piece. The project team visited a regional prison for women on one of the first days in Sinop.

The project team visits the Sinop Regional Prison for Women. Artist Ashley Hunt is in the upper left.

Ashley’s final piece projected footage of the Turkish sky, seen from the bottom of tall shaft, onto the ceiling of stairwell in the abandoned Sinop Fortress Prison. The artist paired the striking result with interviews from local residents, who remembered both the site’s history as a site of detention and torture in the 1970s and 80s, and of the U.S. military missile testing at the time, creating a sound “like a thunderstorm on a clear, bright day.”

Ashley working in the Sinop Fortress Prison.