Nevin Aladağ
Diapason
23.09 – 25.10.2014
Nevin Aladağ’s second solo exhibition at Rampa derives its name from the Latin
word “Diapason” composed of two words in Ancient Greek: διά (diá-) and πασων
(pasōn). Throughout the ages, it’s been used as a musical term meaning “through
all (notes)”, especially denoting the concept of “octave”. Besides its general use
as a term to define the range of a specific note or a musical instrument, it is also
the name of a small U-shaped metal device that vibrates to produce one of the
keynotes, a tuning fork. Other areas of use include the fine-tuning of vocal tones
in choirs, diagnostic tests in audiology, and alternative healing techniques based
on sound energy.
By choosing the word “Diapason” as the title of her exhibition, Nevin Aladağ
highlights - through the use of diverse means and forms of expression in her
works - the transformative potential of music and sound. For “Diapason”, as can
often be observed in her body of works, she transforms the socially defined and
accepted positions and forms of objects, producing new meanings and functions
by fine-tuning them into a new frequency.
Music and sound is often revealed as a leitmotif throughout Nevin Aladağ's
multi-layered oeuvre. In the artist’s video works such as “Session” (2013) and
“City Language” (2009), she creates city portraits through compositions
integrating different forms of musical and rhythmic elements. In “Session” and
“City Language”, various percussion, string and wind instruments are played in
various locations of İstanbul and Sharjah through the manipulation of natural
components like the wind, sea, sand, rain, birds and sometimes architectural
elements within the urban environment. In her performance work, “Raise the
Roof” (2007/2008/2010), women dancers wear headphones and dance on a
metal platform. Each wears high-heeled shoes and a T-shirt announcing the title
and duration of the song that privately accompanies her. The sound of the
dancers’ steps is amplified through microphones installed underneath the
platforms, which creates an improvised rhythmical composition.
Nevin Aladağ converts quotidian household objects and furniture into sculptural
musical instruments to transform Rampa’s gallery space at Akaretler (originally
the living quarters of the staff of the Dolmabahçe Palace) into a music room. This
new work by the artist is inspired by the music rooms, which originated in
Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries to accommodate recreational musical
events in private homes and palatial residences and had an important role
among larger cultural and social changes of the era. In the “Music Room,” various
domestic objects are transformed into percussion and string instruments. A coat
hanger is converted into a harp with a few strings, a table is covered with a piece
of drum skin, a chair is rigged with guitar strings, and a newspaper rack is
dressed as a violin. Whilst “Music Room” hints at the possibility of an improvised
performance session by people who randomly meet at the same place and time,
it also embodies the experiential potential of creating an assemblage whose
members have had the chance to harmonize with each other during the allotted
time.
The installation entitled “March” is based on “Rondo alla Turca” (The Turkish
March), which is the last movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata No.11 in A Major,
and was inspired by the rhythmical structure and sound of the Ottoman
Janissary Bands. Following extensive research conducted in the military
museums in Istanbul, the artist installed 94 bronze cannon balls – modeled after
the cannon balls used by the Ottoman Army in the 19th century and produced in
four different sizes – upon giant staffs drawn on the two walls of the gallery
space. The way the cannonballs are arranged upon the two long and parallel
running walls evoke a visual association with the notation of Mozart’s famous
piece. Even though they appear at first glance as the heads separated from the
stems and flags of notes; upon a closer look they reveal themselves as the bronze
cannon balls they indeed are, having been hurled at the wall at various degrees
of force and speed. These balls embedded in the walls at differing depths evoke a
feeling of being caught in crossfire. This serves to bring the military references -that are usually dismissed at the first hearing of this famous piece by Mozart and
are often used as theme music in films, and advertising, especially to promote
tourism, as well as in official State ceremonies in Turkey – to the forefront
where they highlight the song's wartime origins manifest in a kind of post-war
setting. The title of the work refers both to the “military march” as a musical
form and also to the military command: “March!”
The third work in “Diapason” is entitled “Beeline” deriving its name from the
term used to define the shortest distance between two points. For this work,
Aladağ borrows the weaving pattern of the ropes used to tie the city’s ferries to
the piers and embodies the shortest distance between the two embankments of
the Bosphorous with these indigo ropes. The 698 meters of rope – broken up
into parts and wrapped around wooden reels – defines the distance between the
two points of the Rumelian and Anatolian Fortresses standing on the opposing
and closest banks of the Bosphorous. By breaking the length rope into equal
parts and then wrapping them around the wooden reels she creates ten stools,
by which the artist extends an invitation to the audience to sit on and reflect on
the concepts of distance, proximity, travel and departure.