EXOPLANET

Project “Exoplanet” by Patricia Gilytė (artist from Kaunas living in Germany) consists of a new stop motion animation with candles, created in Klaipėda in 2019. The images born in the seaport’s hangars are based on the movement of light streams in the city, reflections on the water surface and implied cosmic trajectories, which the artist compares to the daily activities of people. “Equinox” is like a symphony of the abundance of an industrial port, revealing that every person, every movement is a part of a common being, because we create the image of the world in its environment constantly and every moment belongs to those who see and hear it. The artist depicts Klaipėda as a port and reservoir of the universe, into which all the rivers flow, from where spaceships launch, and stars fall. The “Equinox K-7392” is created for the autumnal equinox, a moment when the day equals the night at any point on Earth. The letter “K” indicates the geographical point on during the equinox – Klaipėda, and the number “7392” indicates the number of candles and the amount of light.

The soundtrack was created by Donatas Bielkauskas-Donis, composing the sounds of the port and work environment in the background of the sea.

Linas Liandzbergis about his project “Following Myself” says: “It has become crucial to get back to the essence and explore the importance of a moment, find a sign or a symbol that gives meaning to a situation in real life. Specific places and real characters from paintings are currently more appealing to me than directed or constructed fictions. It was important to find the right relationship, capture and convey the ephemerality of the moment in simple situations.”

Artworks from the recent collection highlight the influence of photography and its features such as the negative effect, the use of black background and silvery white painting line and daily as if candid situations captured by the mobile phone’s camera as well as the search of fragmentation and moments. Art pieces become predominated by real images seen or seized from artist’s reality, documentation. However, it looks like the author does not seem to leave behind fantastical motives or paradoxical juxtapositions which had always characterized his work.

Arturas Valiauga project “Looking at the horizon” (About oneself, others, and photography of the 1990s) is developed using the photography archive of 1993–2000, gathered while taking pictures of models during the beauty pageants (Miss Lithuania, Miss Exotic, Miss PhotoBaltic) together with Alfredas Simonavičius, musicians, politicians, pop public figures. The name of the project is a metaphorical reference to the process of photography, where the model is asked to focus on looking into the distance to look better in the picture, as well as on the generation of creators, who were left hopefully waiting for change. The visual narrative is developed by revealing the context of the activities of the photo studio installed in the Vilnius apartment building and on the roof, portraying the changing image of social identity, expression of visual aesthetics and auto-irony of creativity.

The Project is created by: Arturas Valiauga, Alfredas Simonavičius, Ingrida Umbrasaitė.

The exhibition is partly funded by Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuanian Council for Culture and Lithuanian Artists’ Association.

Partner of the exhibition Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre