The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

- AIM: SHOW what happened to Latvia, its land and people under two occupying totalitarian regimes from 1940-1991

       REMIND the world of the crimes committed by foreign powers against the state and people of Latvia

       REMEMBER the victims of the occupation: those who perished, were persecuted, forcefully departed or fled the terror of the occupation regimes.

- Museum Exhibits 51 years (1940-1991) of the occupation of Latvia: Historical documents, artifacts and pictures to show the impact of two totalitarian regimes on Latvia as a state and nation. Personal keepsakes testify to oppression and persecution, but also to defiance and resistance, to inhumane conditions in prisons and Siberian exile, but also to the strength of the human spirit in extreme adversity.

- established and mostly financed by Latvians living abroad.

-the feel when you walk around quickly becomes one of a depressed nature, as the pictoral evidence and personal accounts of what happened are tragic and disturbing. However, when you leave the museum and walk back around the streets of the Old Town, as soon as you turn a corner you hear a new musician playing an accordion, violin or tuba and you walk past one of the many parks and see how society has found a happy medium of all spending time together without friction, and it leaves you comfortable with the thought that, with the right spirit, culture is something that cannot be oppressed and defeated, and that hope sometimes does bring success. Walking around Latvia today you would never know that not so long ago, all traditions were banned, including music.

The Latvian Museum of Art

- 'the Latvian Museum of Art is the richest depository of the national art in Latvia. Its collections have more than 52 000 works of art reflecting the development of professional art in the Baltic area and Latvia from the middle of the 18th century to the present day. They also present episodes of Russian art from the 16th century to the first half of the 20th century.'

- This art collection is kept in an old mansion house in central Riga. From the outside the size and vastness of the building is deceptive. When you first walk in, you are greeted by an enormous central flight of stairs trailing off to either side. The first stage of the exhibit is to the right and you are watched intensively by wardens as you make your way through all the rooms of artwork...almost a bit too much, as if they are waiting for you to do something wrong! Suprisingly, in amongst the slightly peeling paintwork and cracked windows, some of the work is laser sensitive and sets off a very loud buzzing if an annoying American teen gets too close...or anyone else trying to push their luck.

-Downstairs the work is very representative of traditional Latvian and Russian artwork...with dark, dank, often depressing palettes of colour and typical scenes of the condition of life at the time. Although, here and there, there are also some paintings that stand out as a breath of fresh air, as the artists have managed to find beauty in their surroundings.

-Upstairs the work is more modern, with a heavy focus on bright bold flowers and landscape scenes. There is no complex lighting in this art museum, just large windows and masses of natural light pouring through, highlighting the work with great rays of light. Overall this adds to a great sense of tone of the area as you walk around, and you leave feeling a little uplifted at the beauty and skill of the work you have just seen...which makes a change from being exposed to so much 'Modern Art' that you usually expect.

-I definitely recommend making a visit to see this small museum if you ever find yourself in Riga with an odd hour to spend.

illustration

- selection of illustrations from www.misprintedtype.com

- 4 show interaction of illustration and typography, each being representative of the drawing style 

- the type demands the viewer's attention

- although all are different, each are intriguing and eye catching.

- the top 4 reflect the drawing skill by simply using linear techniques. 'chicken' shows linear shading techniques using the dot and line method, which creates visual depth and texture without leaving the illustration looking smudged. this is my favourite illustration as it reflects the character of the subject through the drawing style.

- the bottom illustration was a good find, as without being too stereotypical, I find that a lot of illustration shown at the moment is very similar, where as this has a more traditional outlook to it, reinforced by the heavily decorated lettering.

- if you are interested in illustration I recommend visiting this site... www.aoiportfolios.com

photography

- a few photos that I have found and collected from various sites, albums and friend's photography (ie last photo) 

- all show different styles and effects used when taking photographs, whilst having an underlying symmetry in the subject matter, which is pretty much just ordinary and even mundane views of places that people will walk past every day without realising their beauty. I think this reflects society of today, where people just 'don't have time' to appreciate where they are.

typography 2

these are also found on www.misprintedtype.com

-balance of imagery, text and illustration perfect.

-really interesting to look at both for the actual typography and overall execution of work.

I would definately recommend anyone who likes illustration of typography to look at this site, as it is great to see work that is under constant change and redirection.

typography

 - examples found from www.misprintedtype.com

 - composition and use of imagery really exciting

 - great way of presenting typography in an engaging way

 - favourite has to be 'money' due to worn, scratchy, raw feel.

 analysis.

   The first example, 'broken' has some sort of x-rated edge to it, from the crossed out eyes of the person used, which takes away their identity yet leaves them pretty exposed in the image. The type fits with the composition to result in a bit of an uncomfortable feel.

 'disgusting' has an amazing layered effect, and I love the messed up, scratched out appearance. 

 'great circus' also uses worn through layering, making the piece look textured and reflects the depth of character that comes through the type. I am a big fan of the decoration on the lettering!

 'memories' is attention grabbing and bold, and the type is brash. It looks a lot like the american style of post and stamping.