Cevdet Erek creates works on the intersection between sound, sculpture and architecture. In his audiovisual practice, he explores tone, space and its perception and the concepts of time and history. The Istanbul-based artist applies his extensive backgrounds as an architect, educator, musician and sound engineer to construct spatial site-specific installations and sonic environments. They invite the audience to actively engage with the space and reflect upon the physical sensations transported through the rhythmic reciprocity between sound and the body. Erek often employs seriality as a means to emphasize the subjectivity of lived experiences in different locations, times and cultural contexts.

A characteristic example is Bergama Stereo (2019–24), an architectural installation with sound and a performance program, which he first exhibited at the Ruhrtriennale in Bochum in 2019. In the late nineteenth century, the German Empire transported fragmentary relics of the Hellenistic Pergamon Altar from their original site in present-day western Türkiye to Berlin. Taking the altar’s form, the historically attributed function and the ongoing reception as a reference point, Bergama Stereo was subsequently shown at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. The 34-channel composition with loudspeakers interprets the sculptural frieze through acoustic activation by mixing techno, an important cultural feature in Berlin of today, with traditional dance rhythms of the bass drum davul, an instrument typical in the altar’s region of origin Bergama. Afterwards Erek began splitting his abstracted replica of the altar into fragments to emphasize how the remains of the original have been scattered in many directions. One iteration was set up in 2021 on its site of origin, next to the major remains. More fragments appeared in Istanbul and Singapore. Bergama Stereo—Berlin Fragment is the latest addition and now part of the current collection display at Hamburger Bahnhof. These different versions spread across various countries contribute to a critical discussion of cultural ownership and alternative ways of display. 

Room of Rhythms (2010–12) was conceived for documenta 13 in Kassel then became a series, with volumes shown at MAXXI, Rome, and the Istanbul and Sydney Biennials. In 2017 Cevdet Erek presented the architectural intervention with sound ÇIN in the pavilion of Turkey at the 57th Venice Biennale.