November 22 - Piramid Sanat | Bedri Baykam '8 Seconds that Changed the World'

Bedri Baykam
8 SECONDS THAT
CHANGED THE WORLD
THE JFK ASSASSINATION 50 YEARS LATER

November 22, 2013 – January 5, 2014

Opening : November 22, 2013 Friday | 6 - 10 pm

The King had gone to conquer the lands of his own backyard
that challenged him the most.
He was only one street away from victory when the enigmatic 8 seconds struck...
The title of Bedri Baykam’s exhibition that will take place on November 22, 1963, exactly to the 50th year of the day Kennedy was killed, is "8 Seconds that Changed the World"…

In 1963, during a political propaganda trip to Dallas together with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy, JFK had been killed on Elm Street by a bullet that heavily wounded his brain on top of his two other wounds. 50 years later, the question on who might have killed Kennedy or organized this complicated conspiracy remains an unsolvable mystery under dark shadows. Few hours later, Lee Harvey Oswald who had been arrested, charged with the murder on the same day of police officer J.D. Tippit, was chosen by the Dallas authorities in an unprecedented speed as the “lone nut assassin” that had killed the President. When two days later Oswald who had denied all charges, was eliminated by Dallas club owner Jack Ruby, those accusations against Oswald had full opportunity to spread at a faster pace without any obstacles.

The JFK Assassination which had been subject several times to dense efforts for being solved- or rather dense efforts for being left unsolved (!)- like those of the Warren Commission or the one of the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), looks like an abyss and that has been the subject of countless books and films.

Baykam who had lived himself the shock of the assassination in 1963 when he was 6, has been an amateur researcher on the case since then. The artist who has traveled twice to Dallas and New Orleans, has gone through dozens of books and videos, has met the directors of the 6th Floor Museum and independent international experts on the case such as Robert Groden or Don Miller.

Baykam’s exhibition comprises canvases, 4-D lenticular works, installations, soundtracks and videos. The artist also will have two videos on display at the exhibit. The first one is an 8 hour long video where Baykam talks about the “case”. The second one is an hour long “abstract visual collage” video about the assassination. The Turkish version of the long video is about ten hours. During the exhibition, there will be film showings and panel discussions about the JFK Assassination at Piramid Sanat.

In the exhibition catalogue, there will be articles by critic Emin Çetin Girgin and forensic scientist Mrs Sevil Atasoy, alongside Baykam’s own article.

Baykam will also publish a book on the Kennedy case that carries the same name, “8 Seconds that Changed the World” in 2014. The first chapter of the book finds its place in the catalog as a teaser.

Baykam who has had several comprehensive historical reference exhibitions like the ones on the Turkish İndependence War (Kuvay-ı Milliye 1994), 27 May Revolution (555K-1990), the 68 Generation (1997), the Cuban Revolution and Che Guevara (1998), Turkey today (I’m Torn Inside- 2010) is also a known political activist and writer.

“8 Seconds that Changed the World” will be on show at Piramid Sanat for 6 weeks until the 5th of January.