The new Deep Sensing art installation by Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits is on view at the Decolonial Ecologies exhibition at Riga Art Space until January 15, 2023. The exhibition is organized by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA) in cooperation with the Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council at the Riga Art Space. Attend the discussion with both artists on November 23 at the Riga Art Space!

With the “Deep Sensing” artwork the artists would like to take a critical look at the tools of modern civilization as a glorification of the fulfillment of intellect, imagination and desire, isolated from our sensory world, bodily experience and environment... In “Deep Sensing” we use new “remote sensing” technologies, immersive media and aesthetic practices to create new visions for the future in a socio-ecological direction. Installation consists of the new Deep Sensing artwork as well as the RT-32 video created in cooperation with artist Martins Ratniks 20 years ago.

In 2001, the RT-32 radio telescope in Irbene, Western Latvia, hosted the legendary symposium on radio astronomy and sound art: “RT-32 Acoustic Space Lab.” At that time, only a few years had passed since scientists and society had learned of the existence of this secret object. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the withdrawal of its military forces from Latvia in 1994, this object was given to scientists. The gigantic 32-meter antenna was designed to receive signals from the air and depths of space and was once used for both spying and interception of artificial satellite signals.

Twenty years later, returning to the Irbene radio telescope—which now functions as Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre, home to scientific research into deep space exploration and now open to tourists—RIXC artists Rasa Šmite and Raitis Šmits created the new art research project titled “Deep Sensing” which focuses on socio-ecological issues...

The Decolonial Ecologies exhibition aims to explore the complex entanglements of postcolonial and postsocialist imprints in contemporary society and culture in the Baltics and its neigbouring regions through the prism of environmental history and environmental changes, and the current ecological crisis.

The exhibition brings to the fore various themes related to social, political and ecological change, relations between humans and the environment, as well as on nature and culture in our past, present and possible future. Its topics include the legacy of the past, the meaning and experience of place, issues of identity and belonging, complex memory discourses, landscapes of diverse technologically political infrastructures, ecological thinking as part of and social practices, and alternative strategies to tackle the challenges of the environmental crisis and climate change.

The exhibition curator: Ieva Astahovska.

The exhibition is on view from November 2, 2022 until January 15, 2023. Opening: November 1, 2022 at 18:00 at the Riga Art Space.