“A Place That Exists and Doesn’t Exist Simultaneously” by Līga Vēliņa and Armands Andže; “29 Landscapes” by Armands Andže

On August 3 at 18:00, the exhibition “A Place That Exists and Doesn’t Exist Simultaneously” by Līga Vēliņa and Armands Andže and the installation “29 landscapes” by Armands Andže will be opened at the Latvian Museum of Photography. The exhibition and installation will be available to visitors from August 4 to October 8. Tracing the stages of the development of the medium of photography – from analog photography to virtual reality, both artists are united by a deep interest in reviewing a genre as characteristic of fine art as landscape – the transformation of its subjective meaning in the culture of memories today.

A PLACE THAT EXISTS AND DOESN’T EXIST SIMULTANEOUSLY

Līga Vēliņa, Armands Andže

“A Place That Exists and Doesn’t Exist Simultaneously” is a multimedia exhibition that addresses the theme of memory by combining traditional analog photography with the latest technologies. Looking at the fragmentary and fragility of memories, inspiration is found in Marcel Proust’s series of seven novels “In Search of Lost Time” – in which he reproduces memories as a process in which the present and the past intertwine in an inextricable, unified journey. The experience of memories is a complex, subjective state that reflects the meanings assigned by the narrator to places, things and events. The described places in a specific form, evoking specific feelings, exist only in the narrator’s memories, therefore they exist and do not exist at the same time.

The exhibition was created during the Sansusī Wellbeing Residency in August and September 2022, where the artists collected testimonies and memories through field research, creative workshops and conversations with local seniors at the Aknīste Health and Social Care Center, as well as visiting collector Valdis Kalnietis and photographer Jānis Kurklietis. By collecting the material obtained in the residence, a series of photographs and prints were created, as well as a three-dimensional, associative environment in virtual reality, which is based on memory reconstructions and testimonies – a single intermediate space for memories and a set of imaginary worlds, which can exist in a specific form if all involved participants participate.

Participants: Jānis Kurklietis, Valdis Kalnietis, Andris Kovaļevskis, Jeļena Vinokurova, Ženija Vocevkovska, Ilga Stradiņa, Karmena Fjodorova, Aigars Timnis, Agris Priede, Igors Ansovičš, Jānis Ādminis, Jānis Poplavskis, Tamāra Tretjaka.

29 LANDSCAPES

Armands Andže

The perception of the landscape is influenced by cultural and social factors, as well as the subjective experience of each individual. This collection of 29 silver gelatine dry plate photographs explores the human relationship with the landscape, both natural and industrial. The landscape carries everything that has happened in it – it is psychologically perceived from the lens of personal or collective experience and memory. The photographs attempt to deal with the interaction of man as a being with the landscape, the impact of the landscape on the collective subconscious of mankind, as well as the consequences of human activity in the landscape.

The photographs attempt to adress the interaction between human and nature, the impact of the landscape on the collective subconscious of mankind, as well as the consequences of human activity in the landscape.

The photographs are made in the historical techniques of silver gelatin dry and wet plates. They are supplemented with archival materials documenting the surface of Mars, as well as images of early atmospheric nuclear tests.

Armands Andže (1988) has been a member of the artist collective Baltic Analog Lab since 2018. He has been working with analog photography for more than 12 years and has delved into various historical photography processes. He studied at the Latvian College of Culture, as well as at the Latvian Art Academy in the Department of Glass Art. He is currently studying for a master’s degree at the Latvian Academy of Arts – graphics department.

Līga Vēliņa (1990) is a media artist, illustrator and graphic designer. She works with various digital media: data visualization, virtual reality, 3D art. Līga studied new media art at Liepāja University and visual communication at the Latvian Art Academy, where she obtained a master’s degree.

Related Events:

• August 3 at 18:00 – Exhibition opening
• August 19 at 10:00-17:00 – artists Līga Vēliņa and Armands Andže will meet with visitors as part of the Riga Festival 2023 program; at At 13.00, both artists invite you to join the exhibition tour and the lesson “From stereo photography to virtual image”.

Supporters: State Culture Capital, Baltic Analog Lab, Sansusī Wellbeing Residency

Photo: Līga Vēliņa. Photogrammetry, 2023.

Photo: Armands Andže. #004, 2022.