Čia-Ji Čeņ (Chia-Yi Chen). Nezināmā vieta (Unknown site), 2021.

The Augmented Reality (AR) and Sound Art Performative Presentation Programme will take place at the RIXC Gallery, Lenču iela 2 as part of the Riga Last Thursday programme, on June 25, at 18:00  featuring the AR artwork presentation by RIXC Taiwanese residency artist Chia-Yi Chen exploring Latvia’s fallen landscapes, followed by a sound art research project presentation by Paula Vītola, on isolated recordings of insect sounds – created by capturing the light movements cast by the shadows of insect wings. Finally, until 21:00, visitors will have the opportunity to view the Intrusive Thoughts exhibition by Jurģis Peters at the RIXC Gallery.

This year marks the second year that RIXC hosts Taiwanese artists as part of its residency programs. This initiative is part of the Subterranea project, a collaboration between Zone Sound Creative and RIXC, which brings several Taiwanese creatives to Latvia from 2025 to 2026 in order to create augmented reality and sound artworks.

This year, RIXC in Riga is hosting Taiwanese new media artist Chia-Yi Chen. Her work primarily explores the relationship between humans, the environment, and the subtle changes of time. She specializes in reshaping space through environmental research and integrating multimedia readymades, transforming images into alternative narratives that present new ways of viewing the world. 

On Thursday, June 25, at 18:00 p.m., artist Chia-Yi Chen will present Fallen Landscapes augmented reality (AR) artwork that’s based on on field collection within the margins of woodlands and coastal territories. Situated in environments dominated by natural forces, the artwork explores how human artifacts – such as coastal concrete defense ruins and abandoned forest bunkers – manifest a sense of material (remnants 遗存) and the disintegration of power. It examines how humans perceive the interrupted, suspended, and fragmented sequences of time within these fading spaces. The artwork is based on deep explorations around Riga  as the Ķemeri Bog and Bolderāja forest.

The presentation will be followed by Latvian artist Paula Vītola, who will present her sound art research project on Isolated Recordings of Insect Sounds. Using a photoacoustic method, custom-built instruments were developed to use light both to attract insects and to record their sounds. This process resulted in a series of recordings that explore the aesthetics of insect sound and movement trajectories. In 2025, Paula Vītola, in collaboration with the “Strenči Sonification Station” project, carried out a unique study: isolated recordings of insect sounds. Using a photoacoustic method, special instruments were created that used light to both attract insects and record their sounds. The artist made several recordings, studying the aesthetics of insect sounds and trajectories: “The optical recording system allows for the recording of only insect sounds, avoiding other sounds, because it records the movement of the insects’ wings not by capturing it mechanically (by picking up air vibrations with a microphone), but by capturing the movement of light created by the shadows of their wings. [...] Insect sounds are, in my [the artist’s] opinion, very musical and interesting. Insects are flying oscillators that together form a captivating composition.”

Paula Vītola is an interdisciplinary artist based in Liepaja, Latvia. Trained in the fields of media and visual arts her artistic interests have shifted mostly towards sound art. In her artistic practice she is experimenting with natural and physical phenomena such as light, radio and electricity.

Paula Vītola is also the founder of “AB12 kabinets,” a multifunctional space for artistic research, education, and experimentation, which will be implemented as an alternative educational program for the study of sound art and electronic music, with a focus on perception research, art and media theory, and philosophy. 

Finally, until 21:00, visitors are invited to view the Intrusive Thoughts exhibition by Jurģis Peters at the RIXC Gallery. At the core of this exhibition is an artistic inquiry into the visual archetypes that underpin AI models–archetypes whose presence we only dimly perceive in our daily lives. These archetypes reflect what the system has “seen” most frequently and knows best.

The presentation by Taiwanese artist Chia-Yi Chen is supported by the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia.

Contact us: rixc@rixc.org,  +371 67228478 (Office), +371 25358541 (Līva Siliņa)

Supported by the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia, Riga City Council, State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia.

The residency by Chia-Yi Chen is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan, National Culture and Arts Foundation, Sonic Sensory Lab, New Taipei City Government Youth Department, Zone Sound Creative (Taiwan).