Until June 19, Riga residents and guests are invited to participate in the outdoor project of the Riga Photography Biennial 2022 (RPB 2022). The project “Echo” by the Latvian artist Kristīne Krauze-Slucka (curated by Anete Skuja, LV) can be seen at 10 public transport stops in different Riga districts. The visual works exhibited at the stops are supplemented with QR codes that introduce the viewers to short excerpts from the synthesis of artificial speech – allowing them to imagine life in a dystopian world.
The society of the future has lost the ability to live on the surface of the earth. People have started living underground – everyone lives in isolation and alone. It is a life based on social distancing and remote communication; the physical, mental and intellectual needs of all the underworld are met through the Machine. Food, music, bed, bath or communication are at the touch of a button or a switch. “Disconnecting” from the Machine means a social exclusion and a definite death because people have lost their natural survival instincts and skills. Such a dystopian world was depicted in 1909 by the English writer Edward Morgan Forster in his short story “The Machine Stops”.
The project is comprised of images in chlorophyll created on organic plant leaves obtained through natural sunlight. Arriving at one of the 10 stops, the viewers are able to listen to short excerpts from the synthesis of artificial speech via a QR code, which bring one into the world described in the story “The Machine Stops” thus allowing them to reflect on the technology-saturated everyday life as well as on our relationship with nature.
The project map is available: https://ej.uz/echomap
Kristīne Krauze-Slucka (1979) is a visual artist based in Riga, Latvia. She observes and studies the topic of changes in the relationship between man and nature, employing a mixture of analog and digital media in her artistic practice, paying attention to the processes of adaptation and hybridization, often focusing on the material aspects of the chosen media. She has graduated from the ISSP School’s two-year contemporary photography education programme and obtained a Master’s degree from the Visual Communication Department of the Art Academy of Latvia (2020). She also received a scholarship from the Foundation of the painter Valdemars Tone (2020) and the Nordic and Baltic Young Artist Award 2020. She has received the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2021 Award, earning an opportunity to publish a book in collaboration with NoRoutine Books. The artist has participated in exhibitions since 2017.
Riga Photography Biennial (RPB) is an international contemporary art event in Latvia, focusing on the analysis of visual culture and artistic representation. RPB covers issues ranging from cultural theory to current socio-political processes in the Baltics and the wider European region. From April 21 through July 10, Riga Photography Biennial 2022 will take place in the exhibition halls and urban environment. Main focus of this year’s events program is the state of isolation and its various manifestations and effects.
Until July 3, the Lithuanian artist’s Paulius Petraitis solo exhibition “Surfaces” is on show at the “ISSP Gallery” while the RPB 2022 and Latvian Museum of Photography exhibition “The Photo Album – A Subjective Narrative”, curated by Baiba Tetere, will be available until September 11. From June 17 to July 10, the exhibition hall “Riga Art Space” is to host the exhibition “ЛАВ = LOVE”, curated by Inga Brūvere. This exhibition offers a look into three private collections of photographs, postcards and slides owned by Andrejs Strokins, Irēna Bužinska, and the Bolderājas Grupa association respectively. The topic will be deepened with a lecture providing an insight into the history of the development of photo postcards, lead by Irēna Bužinska on June 30.
Supporters and partners of the Riga Photography biennial 2022 outdoor project “Echo”: State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, “Poligrāfijas Apgāds”, Printing house “Adverts”, Hibnerstudio, Arterritory.com, Echo Gone Wrong, Punctum, BLOK.
More information about the project: http://rpbiennial.com/program/2022/16.html
More information about RPB: www.rpbiennial.com
Image added: Riga Photography biennial 2022. Outdoor project “Echo”, Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, from the series “Echo”, 2019/2022. Photo by Madara Gritāne
