Erek’s work combines video, sound and images, often in an attempt to alter the viewer’s perception and experience of a given environment.  He is particularly interested in the way we apprehend the world around us and organise our lives through measurements of space (metric system), time (calendar and clock) and music tempo (beats per minute). The artist conflates these seemingly objective systems with other apparently more subjective ones, such as the timeline of events or the changing rhythm in musical improvisations.

Working with his own versions of rhythms and markers, Erek created an immersive installation for the gallery at Spike Island. He brought into play his responses to the architecture of the gallery (the central atrium of a former factory), the sounds already present in the building and the wider context of the Bristol music scene.

Cevdet Erek

Cevdet Erek (b.1974) lives and works in Istanbul. He has exhibited at venues including MAK-Vienna (2012), Tate Modern-London (2011), Arter-Istanbul (2010), Stedelijk Museum-Amsterdam (2006), among others. Week, a solo exhibition, was presented by Kunsthalle Basel-Switzerland in 2012 and Erek also participated in dOCUMENTA(13) with Room of Rhythms, the Istanbul Biennial (2011, 2003) and the 7th Asia Pacific Triennial (2012).

Cevdet Erek was awarded the Uriot Prize with Studio (2005) during his residency at Rijksakademie vbk (2005-2006, Amsterdam) and the Nam Jun Paik Prize (2012).  Erek’s book SSS – Shore Scene Soundtrackwas published by BAS in Istanbul in 2008 and Room of Rhythms 1, was published by Walther König on the occasion of dOCUMENTA(13) in 2012.

Erek has a PhD from ITU MIAM, Centre for Advanced Studies in Music and until recently worked as an instructor at ITU TM Conservatory and Architecture Faculty. He often collaborates with architects, directors, choreographers, authors and he is also the co-founder of the avant-garde rock act Nekropsi.