The virtual program will be connected to the PostSENSORIUM exhibition, the main physical event of this year’s festival that will take place from September 24 until November 12, 2021 in the National Library of Latvia, featuring immersive and experiential artworks by fourteen international artists. The exhibition will be complemented by immersive excursions guided by curators and artists for virtual audiences, and interactive educational programs for the local public of Riga and Latvia. The exhibition’s artwork Blooming Love by Daniel Hengst is going to be on view at RIXC gallery, Lencu iela 2 from October 1 to November 13, 2021.
We like to imagine ourselves as rational beings who think and speak, yet to live means first and foremost to look, taste, feel, and smell the world around us*…
In 20th century cyberfiction the body is referred to as a meat machine, the only function of which is to facilitate the activity of the brain; thinking, considered as separate from a body, was a purely transcendental act.
Contemporary neuroscience increasingly confirms that our will is an effect of basic autonomic neurons – hence, sensing. Yet we keep designing our machines to foster the fantasy that our bodies are separate from the minds that control them.
Contemporary thinkers suggest that our existence – whether sleeping or awake – is a relentless stream of the sensible*, claiming that embodied experience through senses .. is how we think**.
The exhibition explores postsensorium conditions, featuring internationally acknowledged artists who are at the forefront of interrogating new virtual sensing tools to open up our sensorium towards more-than-human futures.
*Emanuele Coccia. Sensible Life, 2016
**Caroline A Jones. Sensorium, 2006
A Covid-19 vaccination certificate is required to visit both exhibitions.
The opening hours of the National Library of Latvia.
The RIXC Gallery opening hours:
Lencu iela 2, Riga
Wednesday–Saturday, 12:00-18:00.
Artists:
Maria CASTELLANOS and Alberto VALVERDE (ES). Plant Sense (2018)
Santa FRANCE (LV). My Left Ear Enjoyed This Video (2021)
David HAINES and Joyce HINTERDING (AU). The GroundingUngrounding (2019)
Daniel HENGST (DE). Blooming Love (2021)
Knowbotiq (CH/AT). Thulhu, Thu, Thu, before the sun harms you (2020)
Kristīne KRAUZE-SLUCKA (LV). Vibrations of the Material Universe. Thirst for Gold (2020-2021)
Vanessa LORENZO (CH/ES). Mari mutare (2020/2021)
Špela PETRIČ (SI). Deep Phytocracy: Feral Songs (2018)
Tivon RICE (US/NL). Models for Environmental Literacy (2020)
Clement VALLA (FR/US). pointcloud.garden (2021)
Rihards VĪTOLS (LV). Forest (2021)
POSTSENSORIUM EXHIBITION (VIDEO TEASER)
EXHIBITION OPENING (GUIDED TOUR BY CURATOR RAITIS SMITS)
“Mēs vēlamies iztēloties sevi kā domājošas un runājošas racionālas būtnes, bet dzīvot pirmkārt un galvenokārt nozīmē saredzēt, sagaršot, sajust un saost pasauli ap mums.” Koča, 2016)
20. gadsimta kiberdaiļliteratūrā ķermenis tiek uzskatīts par “gaļas mašīnu”, kura vienīgā funkcija ir vadīt smadzeņu aktivitāti, lai nodrošinātu domāšanas funkciju; kamēr mūsu domāšanas process, nošķirts no ķermeņa, tiek uzskatīts par tīri transcendentālu darbību.
Lai gan mūsdienu neirozinātne atklāj arvien pārliecinošākus argumentus, kas apstiprina to, ka mūsu griba ir parastu autonomo neironu (tātad uztveres) galarezultāts, mēs turpinām radīt mašīnas, lai barotu fantāziju, ka ķermeņi ir nošķirti no prātiem, kas tos kontrolē.
Mūsdienu domātāji uzskata, ka mūsu eksistence – vai nu miegā vai nomodā – ir nepārtraukta uztveres iespaidu straume*, apgalvojot, ka mūsu ķermeniskā pieredze, ko mēs uztveram ar maņām, ir veids, kā mēs domājam**.
Izstāde atklāj postsensorija aspektus starptautiski atpazīstamu mākslinieku darbos, kuri izmanto jaunus, virtuālus uztveres rīkus, lai paplašinātu mūsu sensorijus vairāk-kā-cilvēku nākotnes vārdā.
*Emanuels Koča. Saprātīgā dzīve, 2016
**Karolīna A. Džonsa. Sensorijs, 2006