Petronom
Aural installation (adhesive tape, 15 metronomes, size on the floor : 2x3 meters), 2005
To Ahmet Dogan metronomes and oil drilling rigs have a
lot in common. First, the back and forth swinging in tempo, one regulates music, the other one the world economy.
The metronome stops once its spring mechanism is relaxed, and the drilling rig once there is no more oil.
The rythme of the metronome and the drilling rig are both variable. The beats produced by the metronom are similar to
the ones produced by a ticking bomb, and the oil producing countries are prone to numerous conflicts often leading to war.
It's after making this assessment that this aural installation saw the the day. A worldmap is drawn on the floor and metronomes are disposed on various places of the world where "black gold" is exctracted. It's an alarming concert of tick tocks. But the silence arising from the stopping of the metronomes are even more worrting. The swarming of the needles gives is replaced by the image of a frozen world.