Illegal Memories

Collaboration: Mies & Ostik We first selected the wall where we would create our graffiti. Our main criterion was that a Marmaray train would pass over it. After completing the graffiti on the wall, the next step was to paint the train itself. For this, we needed a spot where security cameras and guards wouldn’t see us, and the direction of the train surface we were targeting was also crucial. On our first attempt, we attracted the attention of the security guards and couldn't complete the graffiti. However, on our second attempt, we succeeded. The third step was to capture a video of our graffiti-covered train passing by the wall we had painted. To do this, we went to the wall, set up our cameras, and waited. The train we had painted was number 09. Hours passed, but train number 09 still hadn’t come. Then, we got a phone call. A friend informed us that someone had committed suicide in front of train 09, shattering its front window. As a result, the train had been taken out of service. I didn't want to believe it. If they had pulled the train for repairs, there was a high chance they would clean off the graffiti. We immediately checked the news online, and it turned out to be true. Someone had really jumped in front of our train, and it had been removed from operation for an indefinite period. We decided to wait a few days, hoping that the train would return to service with our graffiti still on it. After some time, we received news that train 09 had been spotted running again—our graffiti was still intact. During this period, we reconsidered our project and decided to use a drone for the footage. We scheduled a shoot with a drone operator, but the day before the shoot, we got bad news—the drone had broken. Waiting any longer was too risky because the graffiti could be erased at any moment. We had no choice but to revert to our original plan and film from the wall. However, when we arrived, we realized that cars were parked in front of the wall, blocking the view. We tried to find the car owners but couldn’t reach them. Filming without the wall in view was pointless. We returned the next day to try again. We set up our cameras and waited, but no trains passed. Something was off. We quickly checked online and found out that maintenance work was being done at the nearby train station, so no trains would be passing that day. We had to postpone the shoot again. Over the next two days, we returned to film, but the cars were still blocking the wall. In short, we kept trying again and again. The only thing working in our favor was that the train had remained untouched for a long time. After countless attempts, we finally managed to capture the footage we had been chasing for so long.