Ieva Balode ©

Built with Berta.me

  1. Loop of Fear. 2022. Solo show at Latvian National Museum of Art.

    2x 16mm film projectors, transparent screens, 16mm film loops, overhead projector, silver glass plate, mirrors, 35mm slide projectors with slides, rotating external shutter

    -

    Fear has always existed in a variety of gradations and forms: fear of the unknown, fear of the dark, fear of the enemy, fear of death.Since the beginnings of mankind fear has been both a driving force for humanity and a stumbling block. It is an instinctive force that has made humanity form communities for safety and shelter from the danger that is lurking in darkness. The fear of death has compelled civilisations to build temples and dedicate the  lives of people in preparation for the afterlife.

    The exhibition presents my 16 mm film loops and spatial image projections. Their mechanical nature interacts with the architecture of the space to create a slight sense of alarm, reminding us of the fragility and mortality of the material world. At the centre of the exhibition is the film Thanatophobia,made together with the Irish filmmaker Michael Higgins. It was made between 2016 and 2022 in Ireland and Latvia, and manifests our shared interest in the subject of fear, darkness and death. At the same time, the illuminations of the other spatial photochemical objects expand on the subject, representing light and darkness as fundamental elements of the visible and invisible world.
    This is my inner journey in my own and our common world of fear.

  2.