In metr.cube’s second iteration, works declined by other art platforms were reintroduced as museum-shop merchandise, exposing the criteria through which art is filtered, valued, and displayed.

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In September, an open call addressed every artist familiar with the polite rejection e-mail beginning, “Dear Applicant, thank you for your interest, but…” Age, gender, medium, and résumé were irrelevant; the sole requirement was that the work had already been rejected.

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Forty-eight artists responded, submitting images of their works alongside the original refusal letters. To maintain transparency, lots were drawn to pair each artwork with an object—tote bag, mug, magnet, poster, or postcard. Throughout October, mock-ups were shared by e-mail, artists’ written consent was secured, and a visual identity was developed and circulated together with the exhibition date and location.

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At dawn, the metr.cube truck arrived at Yoğurtçu Park, Istanbul, unfolding into a nomadic museum shop.

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From 10:00 to 17:00, passerbys visited the mobile display, encountering artworks through their transformation from rejection to retail object. At 17:00, distribution began: each item was gifted to a visitor under a pre-signed agreement with the artist, accompanied by a numbered metr.cube receipt: a playful confirmation that the work had finally “sold” its way into public circulation.

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The project inverted the familiar logic of exit through the gift shop into enter through the gift shop, repositioning the museum shop from peripheral add-on to primary exhibition format. In doing so, it staged a light-handed but pointed commentary on institutional gatekeeping, validation, and the uneasy entanglement of art, commerce, and access.

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Funded by CultureCIVIC, a European Union Project.

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2nd Cube: Do You Want a Receipt? was developed under the mentorship of Fatoş Üstek.