TERTIUS, QUARTUS and SEXTUS |

PERIPHERY 2021 – 12.2023

For this installation, Meryem Bayram takes inspiration from geometric principles in architecture and traditional methods of surveying land. She is particularly interested in the ‘druid cord’ from Ancient Babylon, a simple tool consisting of a flax fibre rope with twelve knots and thirteen regular intervals of equal length. Knowledge of the use of this tool was spread by various cultures over the centuries and was used in the construction of medieval cathedrals, among other applications.

Bayram plays with the correlations between sonic tones and geometry, mathematical relationships and light. The artist has placed a series of wooden circles in a hidden corridor that in the past was reserved for the monks of the former monastery. With the placement of these abstract objects, the artist visualises the dimensions of the corridor and challenges our perspective of space and the passing of time. In the daylight we experience the purity of the wooden circles, enhanced by a subtle light installation. At dusk, the light installation activates the geometric forms to the rhythm of the tertius, quartus and sextus: sonic tones that were used by ancient stonemasons as part of a means of measurement.

Concept & Realisation by Meryem Bayram | Creation of the Circles by Zuidervaart | Advising and Installation of the Lights by Erki De Vries | Photo Lèonard Pongo | Produced By Kunsthal Extra City and Platform 0090