Is the Medium the Message?

Latvian Contemporary Photography Exhibition

PARTICIPANTS

ANDA BANKOVSKA, IEVA EPNERE, EDGARS GLUHOVS, IVARS GĀVLEJS/ AVDEY TER-OGANYAN , ROMANS KOROVINS, GALKA KŪLIO, SANDRA LEIMANE , ELĪNA ĻIHAČEVA, MIKS MITRĒVICS, SANDIJS RUĻUKS, KATRĪNA SAUŠKINA AND IVETA VAIVODE.

In Marshall McLuhan’s famous phrase “the medium is the message”, it is the medium itself, not the content it conveys, that is presumed to be the most important message. The exhibition “Is the Medium the Message?” plays on this concept. Similarly to other art media, contemporary photography does not exist autonomously, “all by itself”. It strives to merge with other media, different art practices and techniques, itself becoming a technique or a tool in the expression of a particular idea or message.

Looking at a wide array of activities and various strategies used by artists to work with photography, the exhibition focuses on the possibilities and applications of photography. The selection of works represents various segments – from the continuation of the tradition of documentary photography, critique of the consumerist society and exploration of image semantics, to the inclusion of photography in installations or the systematisation of existing images found on the Internet. As the participating artists are markedly distinctive in their use of photography and their chosen subject matter, the exhibition offers an up-to-date look at the specifics, use and role of the medium in contemporary art.

Līga Lindenbauma, Exhibition Curator