The Blog

Waterpieces Festival Riga

Videoart from Latvia
International Contemporary and Video Art Festival Waterpieces
curator Dzintars Zilgalvis
biography

Curatorial statement:
International Contemporary and Video Art Festival Waterpieces is the only festival in the Baltic States which offers its audience unusual sounds, and performances delineated by movements and images.whose unifying element is the moving image.In 2010, the festival celebrated its 10th anniversary. Over the years this festival has evolved from a small event attracting a narrow group of devotees to one of the most interesting and idiosyncratic events in the cultural life of Riga. The Program of the festival attaches not only video art lovers, but also artists, art students, as well as curators from overseas, Rigans and visitors to the city.
At the CologneOFF NOASS represents the selection of the best of Latvian video works subbmited to Waterpieces Festival competiotion in 2009 and 2010.

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Artists:

1.
PÄ“teris LÄ«daka – “Imaginary planes”/ 09:23/
Imaginary planes’ implement my play with the weird airplane design based on the idea to change the conventional purpose, function, design and the forms of the traditional airplanes and create the dream/fantasy machines.My planes are the creatures that could fill up the world around us as well as inhabit an imaginary space. I predict that in the nearest future the machines will grow bigger and will become the flying objects for living and self-expression, and the airplanes‘ era will begin.

2.
Edgars Lielzeltiņš – Substitute- Gap”/2010/ 02:48/
A space between events which could be termed as a gap. This gap exists in the form of voids which we never look at (Robert Smithson).

3.
IndriÄ·is Ä¢elzis – “Inside/Outside”/“Changeover”/2010/ 04:50/

We are all buried under our relevant profession, experience. We divide up into ashes and mix with soil, as a result turning into a tree or by mixing up in concrete; we become an object that shapes the surrounding environment. A carpenter becomes a table… a builder becomes an element of a building… Communication is ongoing.

4.
Jeļena Glazova – “Re- Start”/2009/ 02:55/
Experimental short film with poetic text video projections, a study of an individual’s private space.

5.
Jeļena Glazova – “Switch”/2009 /01:07/
Experimental short film with poetic text video projections, studying an individual’s private space. A moving video, projections and poetic text transforms space and represents the metaphorical transformation of an individual

6.
Aleksandra Samuļenkova – “Offset”/2010/ 1:19/
An evident deviation occurs in the life of a typical suburb. But this still goes unnoticed.

7.
Sinda Kārkliņa – “Parade”/2010 /06:24/
An abstract cartoon about bright colours and dead birds.

8.
Klāvs Mellis – “The Window of my Parents Bedroom”/2009//14:00/
A little adventurer’s trilogy about his parents’ bedroom and other things.

9.
Mārtiņš Ratniks – “12233”/2009/6:45/
The shot reveals a kissing couple and an ISO 12233 standard image used to determine the optical resolution of digital devices. We are filming two girls and two guys making four characters. The picture focuses only where the ISO 12233 graphics and the video shoot overlap.

10.
Anete Melece – „5 MOVING PAINTINGS” Anete Melece / 6:00 / 2008 / LV

The piece consists of 5 animated films which at first seem just like paintings. Each of them has a reflection of a traditional painting motive – nude, portrait, landscape, still life, and even abstract geometry. But then you realize that it is not a fixed moment but a story subjected to time lapse about routine and surprise moment in art.