Solo exhibition "Shift" by Krists Pudzens

2014 10 04 — 2014 10 26 at Riga Art Space
Author Echo Gone Wrong
Published in Events in Latvia

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This is the first major exhibition by new media sculptor Krists Pudzens, showcasing kinetic and interactive artworks created between 2007 and 2014. The exhibition includes seven electronic and kinetic installations–objects, which thematically and formally are united by the artist’s reflection on an instrumental and resonant society as a point of reference for adopting the idea of balancing the perception of a modern human being, where one mechanism of perception is not singled out – visual, audial or tactile – but is characterized by procedural parallelism and synchronicity. Electronic ecosystem has transformed human beings from fragmented individuals, the way human beings were in the culture of writing and print, into having a role in a collective identity with a community as its basis. Therefore the shift in perception and interaction with the world around them is inevitable. Formally the works follow a united motif – the nature of discrete sculptural objects. Each one of them is a closed, introverted system, which functions according to precisely defined conditions and takes up a certain segment of the time–space. Although a considerable role is given to composition, aesthetics and dynamics – to the shape in movement or the images created by light and movement – the artist’s interest is not limited to creating self–contained kinetic or aesthetic forms, but is directed towards the process of creation as a way of reflecting the message of digital infrastructure.

Having graduated from the Department of Sculpture, Riga School of Art and Design, Pudzens started gradually merging the skills and knowledge he had gained while studying the traditional fine arts with opportunities created by emerging technologies, electronics and programming, as well as with his knowledge and experience in the field. Hands–on practice created change and digital technologies brought forth new ideas. Personal questions about the role of human beings in the context of technologies and the global importance of the processes taking place close–by arose. These questions, which initially were subconscious, guided the artist to the Art Academy of Latvia, where, while studying sculpture, he discovered kinetic sculpture. Inspired by contemporary Dutch kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen, Pudzens’s practice followed Jansen’s motto: “the walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds”, and, step by step, he arrived at interactive art.