Other events in Baltic States

Atis Jākobsons’ personal exhibition in the Creative Studio of ARSENĀLS forms a multi-layered visual language, creating a complex totality of symbols and images which is difficult to decipher, and perhaps it is intentionally impossible. The artist leads us on the path of asemic writing. The word “asemic” means that the writing has no special semantic content. It is a range of meditative signs that can be interpreted in various ways and has an open meaning. Asemic writing can resemble everything and nothing at the same time. Some examples are reminiscent of pictograms and ideograms, words can be written from left and from right, from top to bottom and the other way around. The associations of asemic text can also be perceived through the form in which the words are arranged. Each viewer’s interpretation is accurate.

Atis Jakobson’s new solo exhibition The Bright Night of the Soul reveals various ways how to research the Self, as well as wonders whether an idealized and united “I” exists at all. By relaxing his consciousness and letting the natural flow of thought take over, Atis Jākobsons forms the space of his language, which frames his world and broad interests. The flow of consciousness of an unconscious writer is turned into a visual language and freed from rational control and sediments of meaning. It is like an emotionally directed inner movement that moves outside as an abstract extension of a line. His works are neither references to specific cultural phenomena nor attached to any tradition, although the material about the history of human culture that was read and studied during the development of the idea has definitely served as an inspiration to create objects that may resemble real artefacts.

Atis Jākobsons works in various media – drawing, painting, sculptural objects, painted textiles as well as contemporary technology. At the basis of the project are the visual notes made by Atis Jākobsons during his travels, but an equally important role is played by the space and the work’s interaction with it. Thus, for example, the relationship between the drawing’s frame and the Studio’s wall, the relationship of the textile with the painting or a sofa placed in the exhibition space are elements of utmost importance for the exposition. The exhibition becomes a space where everything can co-exist – naive, strong, weak, contemporary, primitive, framed in gold or right on the floor.