The Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the East

Lundy, Louis, Barge and Troy (2014) in ‘The Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the East’ curated by Sara Raza.
Two-channel synchronised (1080x1920) HD video, sound, 6’ 31”. Installation view Tufts University Art Galleries, 2022
Excerpt from the brochure text:
The Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the East is a contemporary art exhibition that poetically reimagines seismic cultural shifts through the reclassification of science, philosophy, and economics, which have collapsed and fallen into an arbitrary order (or disorder) in society. The exhibition borrows and reworks its title and main critical inquiry from one of the final “signs of the hour,” inspired by indigenous Islamic eschatological prophecies.2 These prophecies are based on a series of dramatic events concerning cosmological, intellectual, natural, and political order in the lead up to the Day of Judgment, including a rise in ignorance and moral corruption, ecological disasters, and the reversal of the rotation of the Sun from West to East and the darkening of the Earth, which gives this exhibition its title. The art and artists presented unite to create a non-didactic constellation of counter-narratives that explore how traditional structures have been abandoned for new orders in contemporary society. Exploring the disordering effects of globalization and disparity on entire societies, economies, and cultures, The Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the East offers fluid artistic proposals for disrupting exploitative systems that are rooted in imperialism, homogeny, power, and position. Several urgent themes overlap concerning the renewed and interrelated remnants of colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism, and are explored via human geographical patterns of exile and return, contraband as a poetic device, and the disorienting effects of the lack of social and political equilibrium. As such, the artworks in this exhibition highlight interconnected histories and concepts, accessible from multiple entry points, and resulting in a fluid cross-circulation of meaning and visual cultural knowledge.
Transactions are also examined in Ergin Çavuşoğlu’s two-channel video installation, Lundy, Louis, Barge and Troy (2014). Two contrasting screens present themes of surveillance (from above) and sousveillance (which takes place from below). One screen features the underwater ruins of ships from an Allied fleet, known as Lundy, Louis, and Barge, that were deliberately sunk during the WWI Gallipoli Campaign (1915–16). At that time, Great Britain and its allies attempted to undermine the Ottoman Empire, as part of a larger plan that led to the empire’s eventual dissolution. The second screen features a scenic view of the seabed and documents the traffic of sea vessels as they cross the waters. The two juxtaposing works present the historical manipulation of maritime routes that are associated with imperialism and trade, and allude to the establishment of new world orders. Moving between subterranean and overground networks Lundy, Louis, Barge and Troy illuminates what Çavuşoğlu has frequently spoken about as the end points where Europe and Asia meet, highlighting complex historical and contemporary geopolitical crossroads.