From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
wa:Karagöz
This article concerns a specific archival designation and variant reading of Karagöz Döngüsü. For the main Turkish adaptation, see Karagöz Döngüsü: The Shadow-Puppet Recurrence. For Karagöz tradition generally, see Karagöz and shadow-puppet traditions.
An experimental hybrid reading of Beach Surgery using Turkish Karagöz shadow-puppet tradition crossed with Javanese wayang aesthetics, developed in Istanbul and performed across Southeast Asia. The designation "wa:" (variant-archive) marks it as a deliberate re-reading rather than direct adaptation: the mechanic becomes the Karagöz figure—a trickster who cannot see the surgeon's true work, only its shadow on the screen. Katita remains the silent operator, moving both Leif and mechanic limbs with identical grace.
The tradition's perforated leather screens create a secondary narrative in silhouettes alone: ten distinct shadow-versions overlaid, echoing ten layered versions bleeding through. The mechanical seagull becomes an impossible insect, visible only in shadow-contradiction—existing and not-existing per shadow layer.
Toured Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, 2022–2024. A 2023 video documentation circulates; status of original puppets and scripts ██████ . The work's relationship to both the canonical Turkish cycle and wayang traditions remains unresolved; some scholars treat it as commentary on both.