Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Proposition I: Distance

The paintings and inlay reliefs in the exhibition represent reality as a form of “proposition,” or constructed truth. Wittgenstein viewed pictures as models of reality, capable of expressing relationships rather than fixed meanings. Similarly, the works in Proposition I: Distance are layered, indistinct, and dreamlike. They explore perception as fluid and uncertain, proposing alternative ways of seeing. Rather than depicting the unconscious, they present reality as a continuous and relational visual representation.

Wittgenstein’s interest in blurred or composite photography, reflects his idea of images suggesting multiple possibilities rather than a single, definitive moment. As Michael Nedo notes, “Wittgenstein was aiming for a different clarity, expressed through the photography of fuzziness.”

Çavuşoğlu, known for his narrative film and immersive installation works, bases the paintings in this exhibition on a body of photographic works from the 1990s, taken during a period of transition from staged and theatrical orchestrations to examining everyday situations and liminal spaces in terms of their potential performativity.

Çavuşoğlu notes that this rarely seen body of photographs depicts situations as if they had been constructed in a studio environment. As such, they present an interplay between the familiar or mundane and the uncanny.