Ruler Day Night

The concepts of rhythm and measurement lie at the foundation of Cevdet Erek’s works and site-specific installations, which investigate the units, structures, and forms that guide our perception of space and time. In 2007, Erek produced his first ruler, which begins with the year of his birth. Since then, he has continued to make rulers to mark and interpret successive events and relationships drawn from a wide spectrum that ranges from the temporal units of day, night, week, and year, to individual and social turning points, and to historical ruptures like coups and wars.
“Ruler Day Night” consists of black and white rectangles that measured the length of days and nights during the 12th Istanbul Biennial. Since the biennial dates were in the autumn season, during which the nights gradually grow longer, the black areas corresponding to the night on the ruler expand as they continue toward the right, while the white areas shrink, resulting in a timetable that visualises the duration of the biennial in terms of days and nights.

"What Time Is It?", exhibition view, Arter, 2019.