Land art connects people from all over the world
ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency
Rogers created an ephemeral stone labyrinth with the assistance of Istanbul locals on the museum terrace. Preparations for the maze started three days before the scheduled opening on April 18.
Andrew Rogers is one of the few artists who use land in creating works. His works are visible from space, and he has 48 different land art projects in 13 different countries such as Chile, Israel, Bolivia, China, Turkey, Sri Lanka, United States, India, Australia, Kenya, Iceland, Antarctica and Slovakia. His current work is on display in the garden of Elgiz Museum.The project at Elgiz Museum, titled the “Winding Path – The Search for Truth,” is displayed in a 1,500-square-meter open-air sculpture park.
“In this project the search of reality is based on an idea rather than a structure,” said Rogers, who has also worked in Cappadocia, as well as different venues in Istanbul.
Rogers created an ephemeral stone labyrinth with the assistance of Istanbul locals on the museum terrace. Preparations for the maze started three days before the scheduled opening on April 18 with the participation of students and neighbors who wished to join in on the project.
The central question for Rogers is: “If we have regard for our Earth, what should be the criteria we live by?”
“Titled ‘Winding Path, a Search for Truth,’ this is a labyrinth about an idea, not a structure,” the artist said in explaining his quest. “It is about the importance of perspective that we are caretakers and have responsibilities to those around us and those who will follow. We receive the environmental consequences created by our predecessors. In turn, we leave a consequence for our descendants. The present will be reflected in the future. We are all connected through people and places, time and space.”
Andrew Rogers spoke to audiences at the opening of his
exhibition at Elgiz Museum.
An exhibition of photographs of Rogers’ “Time and Space: Rhythms of Life” land art project – the largest contemporary land art project in the world comprising 48 stone structures in 13 countries across seven continents involving over 6,700 people over 14 years – is also on display in the museum’s project rooms.
Rogers said he had started land art projects 14 years ago and had worked with 6,700 people so far. Rogers aims to combine figures with the land.
Rogers said he saw the world as a flat line “I am trying to bind the different points in the world like they are flat lines.”
United Nations building sculpture
Rogers said that as people we all depend on space and time and are all connected to each other somehow. The works that Rogers does are for the next generations.
The next project of Rogers will be at the United Nations building in New York. He will make an exclusive sculpture there.
As part of his project titled “Rhythms of Life,” Rogers worked in Göreme. The project, which was begun in 1998, comprises 40 massive stone structures across 12 countries on five continents.
Some of the stone structures cover up to 40,000 square meters. “The land art in Cappadocia consists of 12 structures. It is over 2.5 kilometers long and we have just completed the last structure,” Rogers told the Hürriyet Daily News in a recent interview.
The “Rhythms of Life” sculptures are optimistic metaphors for the eternal cycle of life and regeneration, expressive and suggestive of human striving and introspection. The sculptures embrace a wide cultural vision that links memory and various symbols derived from ancient rock carvings, paintings and legends in each region, according to the artist. They also punctuate time and extend history into the distant future while delving into the depths of our heritage in pursuit of the spiritual.
