—————— (2010)

EVA Sheets, white tape, fake grass

Dimensions: Variable

As a little girl my father used to take my sister and I running in the park. We would wake up with the rising sun and begin our day passing through the fresh morning air in a sort of a haze. I did not enjoy being woken up so early, but it was always a refreshing feeling to run alongside trees with birds singing and bathing in the first rays of light. This interaction with nature would slowly transport me into wakefulness, enhancing my appreciation of life. This freedom, just going somewhere, would give me a sense of power and possibility- the world was mine and I could do anything with it.

These morning trips taught me the importance of play. It helped me to focus on just doing things for fun and enjoying the moment. The mere act of jumping over a broken branch became a playful act.

In the process of getting ready for the exhibition The Outer Edge of Inside, Gosia Machon and I started talking about various stages and moments in our lives. I thought of my childhood and the streets I used to run on. I still find myself racing through similar public and private spaces defined and controlled by society. ‘————’, a running track that’s been twisted to fit into the gallery space, turned it from a private to a public space. In doing so I had hoped to transform the space from a place of observation and control, into a space for play.

“In her work ‘————’ Devrim Kadirbeyoglu superimposes two fundamentally different environments with unlike functions on top of each other. She modifies the physical conditions of the exhibition space by covering the concrete floor with a soft pink layer. Like walking on a running track it bounces one’s foot steps off, swallows the sound and directs the concentration on one’s own body. The markings on the ground indicate the dimensions of the track, but they have lost their function as landmarks and run against the wall.”

Kristina Kramer, Curator and Director of Manzara Perspectives in Istanbul, Turkey.

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