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THEORY ON DEMAND
At Electronic Art Laboratory’s E-Lab’s space in the Artist Union building on 11. Novembra krastmala in 1997. It also housed the sound studio of brothers Vitins: Elast / Sloka Sound System. From the left: Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits, Martins Ratniks, Dzintars Liicis, Martins Taurins, Ugis Vitins.
Journalist Alise Tifentale examined various social issues brought by the communication age, curator Kaspars Vanags introduced ideas and projects behind Open and video artist Valdis Poikans the activities of electronic coffee houses. Other relevant topics were addressed, for instance, online pornography – the event ‘Hardcore Night’, apart from Alise’s and our readings on cybersex, featured a presentation on the ‘samizdat’ (DIY publication) of porno-magazine ‘PLOP’ illustrated by artists Raids Kalnins and Gints Gabrans. In turn, poet Sergejs Timofejevs did a poetry reading of poetry in context and commented on ‘Novije trajektoriji’82 (New Trajectories) – traveling skydivers from Moscow who had come to Riga to jump off the 211m Riga TV and Radio tower. Musicians Ugis Vitins and Toms Vitins did live electronic music jam sessions where every E-Lab participant and guest could participate. The live music session recordings were the basis for the collectively established Internet radio Ozone, starting in March of 1997. Open Zone seminars also featured E-Lab’s foreign colleagues from translocal collaboration networks: Alexei Shulgin from Moscow (it was him who first ‘dropped’ the idea of Internet radio) and media theorist Eric Kluitenberg (as an expert he has given an enormous contribution to E-Lab’s conceptual advancement during different periods of its development). For circulating information about Open Zone seminars and later also about other events we most often used our own ‘new’ media: E-Lab’s local mailing list Rezone (its announcements were sent out to several hundreds of subscribers), E-Lab’s web site on the Internet, A4 sized posters (put up at the Latvian Artist Union building on 11 Novembra krastmala and at the Arts Academy), flyers (handed out in club events) and simply through social (mouth-to-mouth) communication. These events continued the work already initiated by Open on establishing connections and creating a social communication network between members of the young creative generation in Riga. At the same time, the intent of E-Lab was not to gather participants in order to become larger in terms of its size as an organization. Instead, E-Lab always encouraged and supported other creative people to make their own small (legally founded) structures; be it cultural organi-
82. http://www.parks.lv/home/E-Lab/~tim/tim_text.html.