Insidesmusic (USA), release 070317 Audio:

Reaction to spending three months in the former Soviet Republic of Latvia as artist-in-residence. Not speaking either official language of Latvian or Russian made life confusing. Complied using: mobile phone field recordings from both my home city, London, and Riga; output from experiments using and combining speech translation software with BBC digital radio broadcasts received in Riga, from the UK, via the Internet.

Listen & download here

A selection of photographs from my residency in Latvia here

I enjoy airports greatly. Another flight from Riga; this time aboard a hired Turkish airline. Interesting to fly from Riga to London with Turkish crew and aircraft.

Aizpute, small town where the Technology Myths part of The 9th International Festival for New Media Culture was held

The small town of Skrunda, 150 km from Riga in Latvia, was the site of two Hen House radars built in the 1960s. The 60-meter structure was to have been one of the most important Soviet stations for listening to objects in space; Soviet early warning radars.

Pursuant to an agreement “On the Legal Status of the Skrunda Radar Station During its temporary Operation and Dismantling”, signed by Latvia and the Russian Federation on 30 April 1994, the Russian Federation was been allowed to run the Hen House station for four years, after which it was obliged to dismantle the station within eighteen months. The deadline for dismantling was 29 February 2000. Russia asked Latvia to extend the lease on the Dnepr station at Skrunda for at least two years, until the new Daryal station under construction near Baranovichi became operational. Riga rejected these requests, and the radar was closed on 04 September 1998.

In a joint New year statement, the presidents of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania urged Russian President Boris Yeltsin to complete the pullout of all Russian troops from the region, as promised, in 1994.

All materials of value where stripped from the site, leaving the concrete remains of the 60 buildings that comprised the former complex. The area is now a nature reserve.

Vainode formely home to 3000 Soviet troops and three R-16 R-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (SS-5). Each 30 meter long and with a range of 13,000 km. Launch could take place with 30 mins after a direct order by telephone from the Cremlin. The reported targets where Holland, Belgium and Luxemborg. In the event of a launch being required, the concrete dome would slide across from the slio on rails. The facility was built for a one time use; it was disposiable once the missiles were launched.

The R-16 was a true first-generation missile and a vast improvement over the largely experimental ‘zeroth’ generation R-7, but it was still inferior to contemporary American missiles. On normal duty the missiles were stored in hangars, and it took one to three hours to roll them out, fuel them, and reach launch readiness. The missiles could remain fueled for only a few days due to the corrosive nature of the nitric acid fuel oxidant. After this, the fuel would have to be removed and the missile sent back to the factory for rebuilding. Even when fueled and in an alert posture, the Soviet missiles still needed to wait up to twenty minutes to spin up the gyroscopes in their guidance systems before launch was possible. Despite these shortcomings, the R-16 was unquestionably the first truly credible rocket based strategic nuclear deterrent developed by the Soviet Union.

A day of Military Tourism to former bases of The Strategic Rocket Forces A major division of the Soviet armed forces that controled land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

The tour started at Embute. A Soviet jef fighter base built in the 1960s. The facility also includes a full size run-way.

Tour leader; KGB Agent

The military fort, on the outskirts of Liepāja, constructed 100 years ago. The guns could fire on ships 8km out to sea

[Local government information about the City]

One of the oldest Liepāja bridges – was built in 1906. It is a metal structure swing bridge and connects Karosta with the rest of Liepāja. It took about 5 minutes to open the bridge and let a ship through. … Approximately one month before the brige century there was an accident. The big ship ramed into the north part of bridge. That’s why the bridge is CLOSED AT THE MOMENT. Karosta is still accessible through Tosmare