LAIKA TIPS
solo exhibition at 427 Gallery, Riga
30 July, 2021 - 30 August, 2021

Laika Tips reconsiders the physical character of 427 Gallery whose space once functioned as a small storefront. The installation works with this previous life of the site and introduces a constellation of architectural adjustments sculptures cultural residues and industrial remnants.

The project emerged during the suspended atmosphere of the COVID-19 period, when many small businesses were forced to close and urban storefronts stood empty for extended periods. Vasiljeva approached this condition with attentiveness, amplifying the sense of vacancy already present in the city and drawing attention to the fragile circumstances under which small businesses attempt to endure turbulent times.

The title refers to laika tips (Latvian for “weather type” or "time type") a Latvian biometeorological index that accompanies the daily weather forecast. Alongside temperature and precipitation it indicates how atmospheric conditions such as pressure shifts and geomagnetic activity, may affect human wellbeing. The scale ranges from one very favourable to four especially unfavourable and suggests subtle disturbances that move through both environment and body.

Borrowing this terminology the exhibition adopts the logic of an atmospheric prognosis. In a moment saturated with predictions, warnings and expectations, the title amplifies a sense of uncertainty and heightened vigilance.

The front room appears almost as a sparse décor where display feels provisional and slightly displaced. Behind it the backstage carries another register of activity, where materials gestures and fragments suggest that the installation continues to unfold provately, just out of view.