„EQUINOX“

PATRICIJA GILYTĖ

On the 6th of September, 2019, on friday, at 6 p.m. at KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens st. 2, Klaipėda), exhibitions dedicated to the Contemporary Art Month are being presented. One of them is Patricija Gilytė’s exhibition of installations “Equinox”.

In her works, for the past decade, Patricia Gilytė, who lives and creates in Germany, has been analyzing the specifics of a particular spot – trying to accept the changes and document the status quo of that place from an artistic perspective. At the exhibition “Equinox”, the artist presents installation “Equinox K-7392”, created this year in Klaipėda and the installation “Tri-Galaxian L-4116” (2014), dedicated to Linz city in Austria.

Human life from long ago has been linked not only to a specific geographical location, but also to the constant aim to expand that place, to travel not only in space but also in time, to move both irrationally, in dreams, ambitions, fantasies, and rationally, struggling scientifically through Universe, creating devices and technologies that let you navigate in the world. Although opportunities are constantly expanding, a particular human being is constantly relying on certain repetitions that come of their own accord (the change of seasons, day and night) and whose effects we capture with our senses. One of the changes’ example is equinox; in the case of P. Gilytė’s exhibition – autumnal equinox.

The exhibition is based on Klaipėda cityscape as the main source of visual impressions. While residing in Klaipėda during different times of the year, the artist was observing the city as a whole and, at the same time, analyzing different levels (colours, sounds, flows, moods, emotions), as well as stable, slowly changing forms, i.e. architecture, and repetitive forms – port elements. She transfered those observations into images in a stop motion animation, using 7392 candles. By lighting up or putting out individual candles, a visual narration of the city as a changing constellation was created.

“Since Klaipėda is not my habitual residence, after arriving here I first observe the city, after a while – I begin to recognize its characteristic forms, try to control them, classify them according to the certain criteria and think how I will use them in my future creation. I stop at new sceneries, which turn into my own discoveries, though those sights long ago became city routine for Klaipėda residents: seagulls on the rooftops of Liepų street houses, Sunday bells in the post-office tower or merging ship silhouettes… I later combine certain elements, that were captured in the city, into dotted candle pictures, and viewers, even without recognizing specific fragments, can discover themselves within that whole.

The main visual message of my work of art is movement, trajectories. I compare the city with the galaxy. If there were no humans, the city galaxy would stop, no ships would sail, thudding sounds of the Biržos Bridge would stop, the streets would freeze and only the movement of sun cast shadows over the building surfaces would stay… And only the cosmic galaxies would continue to spin. Every person moving in the city, making his/her way to work, walking down the quay or walking a dog, carrying goods, preparing a cup of coffee, picking up garbage, standing and waiting for a bus or watching the waves at the beach, becomes the part of city movement and city life, as well as becomes a separate point of light“, says the artist about creative work, dedicated to Klaipėda city.

The soundtrack of the installation „Equinox K-7392“ was created by composer and performer, sound artist Donatas Bielkauskas a.k.a Donis. The project was carried out at „Vakarų laivų gamykla“; here the artist was given not only premises, but also all the conditions to create. Technical team, composed of Nerijus Jankauskas, Pavel Ochrimenko, Loreta Patašienė, Andrius Pelakauskas, helped P. Gilytė to fix the process.

The exhibition will be open until the 11th of October, 2019.

The author foto-report – Pavel Ochrimenko.