Nazlı Gürlek
ONE
2017
Installation with paintings and found objects, live performance, length variable
Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilisations, 23 September 2017, performer Aslı Bostancı
Produced by Performistanbul and Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilisations, a parallel event to the 15th International Biennial, in the context of The Curious Case of Çatalhöyük exhibition celebrating the 25th year of the excavations
ONE is an installation piece and a series of live performances inspired by a 9000-year-old ritualistic wall painting (Çatalhöyük, 7,500 BC – 5,700 BC, Konya plain, Turkey). In other words it is an attempt at embodying an ancient ritual painting. The installation is composed of various multi-sensory elements that come together to form a ritualistic performance site. The main components are a series of paintings on two 9-meter-long rolls of paper I made in response to the ancient wall painting. Hovering between abstraction and representation these paintings reveal an imaginary journey into the depths of the body. They represent bones, veins, cells, the pineal gland and the spinal chord among other, abstract figures, which all together display a visual choreography. The specially designed soundtrack is based on excavation sounds recorded at the site and mixed with sounds of water flows. A series of found objects including a rope, soil, water in a plastic bag, bark of the eucalyptus tree, two copper bowls, a light source (lamp) and five balls with reflective surfaces complete the installation. A performance artist is invited to step in to create a choreography in response to/using these various elements and the stories they evoke.
Special thanks to Ian Hodder, Simge Burhanoğlu, Duygu Tarkan, Şeyda Çetin, Yusuf Huysal, Jason Quinlan, Gesualdo Busacca