Impulse (J or Imp)
2020
Interactive site specific installation: sound, light, electricity, movement sensors
Commissioned by Survival Kit 11
The production of the work is supported by Mondriaan Fund, The Netherlands
Courtesy of the artist
I grew up in a tiny apartment on the ground floor on Ļermontova street, Āgenskalns, Rīga. In 90s, crime was the norm. Our home was robbed twice. Both times, the TV and VHS player were taken. Another day, while I spent three minutes inside to pee, my brand-new mountain bike with 21 gears was stolen from in front of our window. Mother claimed to have seen nothing. It seemed very mysterious to me. I had to learn to stay alert, never relax, keep an eye on everything around me and always keep in mind that, wherever I may be, an invisible someone might enter. Monitoring my surroundings became part of my personality.
Our neighbour was smarter. He had a red zhigul (жигуль) parked in front of his window. Whenever someone got close to his car at night, a bright light turned on in his bedroom. It left a tremendous impression on me. That’s how I learned about photodetectors.
In classical mechanics, impulse (J or Imp), is the integral of a force, F, over the time interval, t, for which it acts. Since force is a vector quantity, impulse is also a vector quantity. Impulse applied to an object produces an equivalent vector change in its linear momentum, also in the same direction.
To put it in other words, impulse is the burglar (force, F), approaching the car (interval in time, t) and triggering the photoelectric device to turn on the light in the neighbour’s bedroom (J or Imp). To put it in other words, a viewer is an impulse. To put it in other words, it’s complicated.
When I enter a room, I turn on my sensors. I count with my eyes the number of windows, the angle of light falling on the floor, the height and the width of the entrance, how far I can go in the space and how many excuses I have to make to move my vector quantity towards the exit. When we enter the space, space enters us. It's a circular co-dependency between body (F), its movement in time and space (t) and their invisible relationship to each other (J or Imp).
Artist’s Bio:
Evita Vasiļjeva (b. 1985) is a Latvian artist based in Amsterdam and Riga who works primarily in sculpture and installation. The objects she creates are made from basic materials used in construction, old electronics, and other relics of the urban landscape. Their significance is cryptic and up to interpretation, while formally they set up stages in space on which to interact with each other and their surroundings. Currently, she lives and works as an artist in residence at the Fiminco Foundation, Paris.