Birmingham International
Saturday, 23 June 2007, 16:27

Birmingham International

2 am: The homeliest of railway stations I’ve visited.

Location of I – Japan Exhibition
Wednesday, 13 June 2007, 17:15


Location of I will be live at…

DISLOCATE July 24th – August 5th 2007
Ginza Art Laboratory, Toyko, Japan.

Held over two sites, of contrasting locality, Dislocate will present new possibilities of our immediate space and the multiple connections which link to elsewhere. There will be a particular relationship to the surrounding site of the exhibition venues encouraging interaction and engagement with this environment while also fusing with spaces beyond.

exhibition press release
exhibition website
exhibition website

Location of I – Germany Exhibition
Wednesday, 13 June 2007, 16:54

Location of I live at…

Handwerkergasse – Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte – Europäisches Zentrum für Kunst und Industriekultur, Völklingen, Germany on 25 May 2007 to 15 June 2007

“The artistic experiment Virtual Residency examines the conditions of personal and collective destabilization than actual, strong engine of the migration stream: Individual pictures generate hope, fear, dreams, obligations, emergency, desire for change, will to the change. They are examples, “samples” or sample of motives for migration. By the virtual Projektionsfläche of the project, they receive its Internet platform, to their direction-finding transmitter a direction, visibly are made and find a place of residence. There they become representatively of their authors virtual residents.”

“In a second step the project group makes a Materialisierung of their ideas and concepts in the material area for a part possible of the virtual residents. On the basis of the “sample character” into the Virtual Residency entered concepts, developed the group the beginning, the ideas as material multimedia installations in different exhibitions in Europe, so-called “sample houses” to convert. The term “sample house” associates a collective Paradiesvorstellung. It is a pure place, a white place, a container, at the same time “void”, “brightly a space”, thus a place without an own character, without personality. The “sample house” becomes in such a way the ideal Projektionsfläche for motives for migration. Sample houses develop starting from October 2006 in Germany, France, Poland and Luxembourg.
Virtual Residency officially supported of the center for art and medium technology (ZKM) in Karlsruhe.”

Installation photographs here or
here
Press release

Perpetual Repeat
Tuesday, 5 June 2007, 15:38

Logan on 041209 Audio

There is something entirely understated and beautiful about Martin’s work with sound. It verges on a kind of abstract harmony that is only sensed through a complete destruction of one’s immediate aural senses. One tunes in like a quiet child who is observing the events around him and never becomes part of the soundscape except for certain parts in 041209-09 when Martin’s voice interjects in surprise but before it can be recognised, it is already gone and one wonders if his voice was heard at all except on perpetual repeat.

Lidosta «Riga»
Tuesday, 5 June 2007, 14:34

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
Monday, 4 June 2007, 14:32

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

Kurzeme: Skrunda
Sunday, 3 June 2007, 16:23

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.

Kurzeme: Skrunda
Sunday, 3 June 2007, 14:40

Kurzeme: Vainode
Sunday, 3 June 2007, 14:13

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.

Kurzeme: Embute
Sunday, 3 June 2007, 10:51

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.

Liepāja: military fort
Saturday, 2 June 2007, 23:30


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]

Karosta: O.Kalpaks Bridge
Saturday, 2 June 2007, 19:39

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

Riga to Liepāja (Karosta)
Friday, 1 June 2007, 23:37

The 9th International Festival for New Media Culture moves to the conference venue.

Karosta was constructed as a naval base for the Russian Tsar, and later served as a base for the Soviet Navy. The base is of tactical importance due to its central location in the Baltic Sea and the fact that it does not ice over in winter. Built on the bare coast it consists of a large man-made harbour including a large breakwater and inland submarine warren. When the Russian army left Latvia in 1994 after Latvian independence, Karosta became largely uninhabited and most structures fell to ruin. The area is troubled by high unemployment, street crime and drug problems. Some remaining residents are considered neither Latvian nor Russian and hold “alien passports”

During the Soviet occupation, Liepaja was a closed city and even nearby farmers and villagers needed a special permit to enter the city. The Soviet military set up its main Baltic naval base there, and closed it completely to commercial traffic in the late 1960s. One third of the city was occupied by the Soviet Naval Base with 26 thousand military staff.


Top secret USSR document about creating closed military port in Liepaja. Signed by Stalin.


The conference venue; former Admiralty palace



This blog was originally created with support from At Home in Europe, to document residency time at Riga Centre for New Media Culture RIXC, Latvia. Full details here.

© 2007-08 Martin John Callanan, All Rights Reserved.