Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Silent Glide, 2008-2009, three channel synchronized (1080i) HD video and sound installation, Duration: 25 mins, Installation view, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen. Courtesy the Artist © Ergin Çavusoğlu, 2009
Ergin Çavuşoğlu’s multi screen video installations poetically restructure movements and places of passage. The works centre on ideas of ephemerality, rhythm, transience and mobility, and examine the notion of borders and journeys from a multitude of perspectives. In Silent Glide the downward spiral of a couple’s relationship is set against the dim landscape of Hereke, Turkey. Once renowned for the production of the finest silk carpets, a destination for the noble and wealthy, nowadays the scenery is dominated by the cement factory and the freighter's port. The place contains all the poetic ingredients for the main character to enable him to create, and ultimately becomes his point of departure. Pivotal in Çavuşoğlu’s work are the conditions of being adrift and placelessness, of bypassing contingent borders and family ties.
Ergin Çavuşoğlu was born in Bulgaria as part of the Turkish minority, and studied fine arts in Sofia, Istanbul and London, where he now lives and works. He was recently short-listed for the International Artes Mundi Prize 2010. He represented Turkey at the Venice Biennale in 2003, was short-listed for the Beck’s Futures Prize, 2004. Past exhibitions include British Art Show 6 (2006), the 3rd Berlin Biennial (2004) and the 8th Istanbul Biennial (2003). Recent solo exhibitions include Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen (2009), Kunstverein Freiburg (2008), Haunch of Venison, Zurich (2007), John Hansard Gallery, Southampton (2006), and Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland (2004).