Human in the living environment. Video action.

Many like-minded contemporaries contributed to the making of this video work, who went on to evolve in the field of performance art—the musicians Dace Šēnberga and Aigars Sparāns; Latvian tape art pioneer Roberts Gobziņš (known as Eastbam); camera operator Gvido Zvaigzne; the photographers Gvido Kajons and Imants Žodžiks; and others.

The video is based on Lediņš’ and Žodžiks’ idea of a staged photo series, which focuses on portraying residents from new multi-storey residential micro districts. The project spontaneously evolved into the form of videos. It should be noted that 1986 also marks the beginning of the Latvian video era, when the first video cameras were available to a few individuals. The work was commissioned by the Latvian Institute of Scientific Research and Experimental Technology of Construction and the film was screened at the conference of Latvian Association of Architects and Scientific Research Institute of Construction on April 21, 1986.

It is a visually poetic and critical portrayal of Riga’s residential neighborhoods. While moving the camera through residential areas of Riga, the filmmakers document, investigate, implement acts and performances and question the residents, forcing viewers to think about the efficiency and suitability of the environment according to their everyday needs.

Effective and picturesque frames are complemented by Hardijs Lediņš’ historically theoretical excursus on the interaction of modernist and postmodernist architecture.