Left Behind // Geride Kalanlar
Multi-channel video installation
Co-created with Zeynep Elif Ergin
2023
Co-created with Zeynep Elif Ergin
2023
Left Behind (Geride Kalanlar) is a multi-channel video installation that is a tribute to the lives lost in the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake.
On February 6, 2023 two major earthquakes struck Southern Turkey and Northern Syria 9 hours apart, followed by thousands of aftershocks. These earthquakes caused extreme and widespread damage across tens of cities, with more than 50,000 deaths and over 100,000 injuries, where for days many people were trapped under the ruins waiting for the rescuers who may never come. Millions of people have been left without home and will continue to be affected for the years to come.
The video installation is comprised of two video channels: one in a shape of a clock with post-earthquake footage and one that shows the tweets from the affected region in Turkish and English (translated). Both the footage and the tweets are taken from the first three days after earthquake.
Twitter was an essential mean of communication after the earthquake, where many people who were trapped and their families would use tweets as a plea for rescue help.
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Time is an important aspect in this piece. The video is 70 seconds long -- the length of the significant earthquake shaking. It prompts the viewer to think about the scale of damage that can occur in such a short time. The clock itself has a motor-powered physical component that is sped up to represent the passing of 72 hours. This period marks the critical time that the search & rescue crews and volunteers have to rescue people alive. As the piece advances, the video and clock slow down and eventually stop. Even though time keeps passing by the lives that are lost are frozen in time and the clock doesn’t matter anymore.
On February 6, 2023 two major earthquakes struck Southern Turkey and Northern Syria 9 hours apart, followed by thousands of aftershocks. These earthquakes caused extreme and widespread damage across tens of cities, with more than 50,000 deaths and over 100,000 injuries, where for days many people were trapped under the ruins waiting for the rescuers who may never come. Millions of people have been left without home and will continue to be affected for the years to come.
The video installation is comprised of two video channels: one in a shape of a clock with post-earthquake footage and one that shows the tweets from the affected region in Turkish and English (translated). Both the footage and the tweets are taken from the first three days after earthquake.
Twitter was an essential mean of communication after the earthquake, where many people who were trapped and their families would use tweets as a plea for rescue help.
Time is an important aspect in this piece. The video is 70 seconds long -- the length of the significant earthquake shaking. It prompts the viewer to think about the scale of damage that can occur in such a short time. The clock itself has a motor-powered physical component that is sped up to represent the passing of 72 hours. This period marks the critical time that the search & rescue crews and volunteers have to rescue people alive. As the piece advances, the video and clock slow down and eventually stop. Even though time keeps passing by the lives that are lost are frozen in time and the clock doesn’t matter anymore.