Viesturs Uzuleņš

This is my bachelor's project at the Art Academy of Latvia. The paintings are inspired by botanical illustration and by genetics. Life is difficult to define, but it has two abilities — to reproduce and to create order. The instructions for how to do this are written in the form of digital code in the genes.

However, our development, as well as the development of other life forms, is influenced by the environment. The influence of the analog environment and of the digital code cannot be separated. They influence each other. Similarly, in my works — the background, plants and geometric elements interact without forming a clear hierarchy.

A singularity is a point beyond which nothing can be predicted. In physics — the centre of a black hole, where space and time cease to function. In technology — the moment when artificial intelligence becomes smarter than its creators and begins improving itself. We live on an exponential curve, yet we look straight ahead. We are close enough to see the fire, but too far to feel the warmth.

In this exhibition, the algorithm plots the coordinates, the brush travels the distance between them, and as a result we arrive farther than either could on its own.

Perhaps the singularity has already happened, and we simply haven't noticed. Perhaps it is happening right now, as you read this text. In any case, we are on the way to a moment when it will no longer be possible to distinguish which ideas are ours and which are created by synthetic minds.

The paintings are coded diary entries about the experiences and thoughts of recent months. The approach to creating the works shifts from randomness to mathematically precise calculation. The visual language of this series has been most influenced by painters such as Kristaps Zariņš, Raimonds Staprāns and Richard Paul Lohse. Music, cinema and newly acquired knowledge of colour theory have also shaped the work.

A survey of work by the emerging generation of Latvian artists, shown at the Daugavpils Palace of Culture.

The exhibition is the result of a game played by three players over six months. It is inspired by a line from Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle — the spectacle philosophizes reality rather than realizing philosophy. In the game we travel between abstracting reality and realizing abstraction.

We follow ancient instructions that have become ingrained in our daily lives as self-evident. These instructions are signs — letters, numbers, punctuation marks, road signs, birthmarks and notes. Signs adapt to each reality, creating new ones and complementing those that exist. Humans use them as navigation tools to find their way, build relationships, and understand their belonging.

Signs are an inheritance whose authors have been lost to history, yet we still follow them without questioning who defined them and why. As we grow and explore, new topics emerge that demand means of interpretation. Everyday life requires new signs.