2020 hasn’t been very generous to live massive dates with art. Not a shocker mentioning this, I know. But finally, the prospects of using a little ‘Restart’ button are pretty bright, and we are just a step away from the annual art fair ArtVilnius. And none the less are we excited to meet some of the key artists presented this year by the upcoming culture festivity. Meet Arnis Balcus, a Latvian photographer who knows how to allure you into a dark, mysterious world caught in his photographs.
Tell us about your photography – what should a visitor of ArtVilnius’20 look for in it?
All works exhibited at ArtVilnius’20 are from different series, and I have created a new narrative. It’s kind of like playing with Lego. Once you have a lot of different cubes, you can dismantle existing work to create something new. It’s a dark, mysterious world with some references to a collective history and my own personal psychosis (smiling). Well, I think the works will be quite calm and atmospheric.
I’ve noticed that you question Latvian identity, Latvian-Russian relationships, Soviet legacy in your works. How did these come to you, and why are these topics important for your creative life?
While living in the UK for several years, I started to see a perspective on where I come from, what things make up national identity, our official history, etc. I started to notice things that I thought were not fully discussed or that are being biased.
I believe that our problems, issues, and unhappy moments, be it personal or collective history, make us who we are, so we should not deny our past and present.
How does the public without the experiences that your main topics analyze usually react to your work? Intrigued, awakened, distracted, visually inspired, etc.?
I think my work is quite visual, so you can get some experience without knowing any context, too.
So, when it comes to some controversies, strangely, people make much more fuzz about nudity than anything else. That’s how it is nowadays – nipples on social media are taboo, while fake news, violence, and idiocy are celebrated.
What do you think is needed to perceive what is a taboo, and what is ‘right’ to change?
Education, courage, and honesty. And time.
Which global topics do you think could use a restart mode, considering the latest events and turbulences of 2020? How is art able to contribute to this process?
I don’t know… I was personally inspired by COVID-19. Not sure how I can contribute as an artist or photographer but maybe I could do a bit more as a director of a photo festival (Riga Photomonth) – we used COVID to our advantage. I feel that this experience pushes us to take the next step forward rather than backward. So, I was and am still thinking a lot about the future of art events.
What are your personal preferences for ‘pushing the restart button’ when in need – maybe some safe space, a hobby, or any other way you choose while having a time out? And when do you need it the most?
In March/April, when most people sat at home, I walked around the city a lot, taking photos. I can say I am quite lucky, in general, I can have free time for thinking regularly – this is what many people actually miss – they don’t have time for thinking because the daily routine consumes all of their time.
However, I think people are getting used to COVID just like people during war get used to living next to corpses. In Europe, we don’t talk about the second wave of the virus even though it is already here, because people used to the new living conditions, and countries can’t afford to make more hardcore lockdowns.
I miss traveling abroad a lot. I am entertaining myself with the idea of going from the safest COVID country (Latvia) to the most dangerous one (Spain), but I am afraid of those different country policies towards free movement rather than from the virus itself…
Feel free to ‘travel’ a little and explore Arnis Balcus art from October 2nd to 4th in the art fair ArtVilnius’20.
