Martins Vizbulis. if(){} else{} || else if(){}, 2022. Photo: Juris Rozenbergs

The if(){} else{} || else if(){} exhibition by Martins Vizbulis is extended until September 10! Visit the exhibition Wednesday-Saturday, 12:00-18:00!

Our daily lives often take place in various kinds of rooms, and each of them tends to have its own special atmosphere. Martins Vizbulis uses this atmosphere or ambiance as a material for his artworks. The exhibition consists of three parts: data collector, data “photos” and real-time data visualizations. The data collector is created in the shape of an amoeba, which similarly to amoeba, has no brain but is programmed to carry out specific functions and to “absorb” data. The artist has created several data collectors in the form of abstract reliefs, equipped with sensors and placed in different rooms: in a concert hall, a pub, the artist's home, and the RIXC Gallery. The data collectors collect the data in these different spaces: the amount of CO2, the air humidity, the movement in the room, the distance between the viewer and the artwork, the air temperature, the noise level, the light intensity, and the presence of alcohol molecules in the air. When the blue light in the data collector is on, it means that some audio data might be collected and the conversations can be overheard.

The collected data are visualized in real-time – it is possible to view data from other spaces and data collected in the RIXC Gallery. Data similar to photos can record what is happening in the room: it is possible to detect the movement in the space, the distance between the visitor and the data collector, how long someone talks or stays silent, “feel” the breath of the viewer, etc.

The collected data were visualized in unique data landscapes made from electronic circuit boards that the author himself calls the sensory data realism. The data collectors send the collected information to the artist’s server, creating a database, from which the artist selected the most interesting parts, creating data art visualizations.

The title of the exhibition “if(){} else{} || else if(){}” is part of a classic programming code. The if statement is a widely used form of programming which is a basis for artificial intelligence, as well as for this artwork. A condition is written in the parentheses after if; when this condition is fulfilled, a specific action takes place that is written in the curly brackets, namely, if (condition) {action}. If the condition is not fulfilled, then another action is executed which is written in the second part of the code, in the curly brackets after else, namely, else {action}.

Martins Vizbulis is the Head of the Environmental Art Branch of the Audiovisual Media Art Department of the Art Academy of Latvia. He is an artist who studies microcontrollers and various sensors in order to make electronic artworks, that create a direct dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. The artist teaches the microcontroller and sensor studies to the students at the Art Academy of Latvia, in cooperation with Alvis Misjuns, merging reality with virtual reality.

The exhibition is on view at the RIXC Gallery, Lencu iela 2, until September 10, 2022.
Opening hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 12:00-18:00.

Supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia.