Kristīne Kursiša

Kristīne Kursiša (1979) works with photography, video, cinema directing and multimedia installations.

In the video “Total Body Workout (2002)”, Kursiša ironically comments on the socially constructed burden of femininity, which is forced on women through advertising.

“Fortune-teller online” (2002) is an audiovisual HTML and JavaScript art project dedicated to the era of mysticism in the 2000s. The project takes the form of an online fortune-telling salon, where users can select a fortune-teller based on appearance or name, and select background music. The predictions are derived from the texts of the I Ching (Book of Changes) – attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius – and incorporate visual effects.

“Diagnostics of Karma” (2003) continues the theme of “Fortune-teller online” in the form of a multimedia installation; it also served as the artist’s diploma project at the Art Academy of Latvia. Through this work, the artist attempts to unravel the logic connecting human intentions to the consequences of one’s actions, all while evoking the atmosphere of a fortune-telling salon. A wooden frame contains a photograph featuring the artist herself alongside fellow artist Miks Mitrēvics. Placed nearby is a monitor – also enclosed in a wooden frame, much like the photograph – which displays people posing motionless for a photographer in a photo studio for an extended period.

Kursiša’s installation – the mechanical object “Out of Control II” (2009) – humorously and intimately speaks about the individual’s desire to control the uncontrollable, constantly checking one’s thoughts and feelings and the likelihood of social suicide the moment these rules are broken. The object invites us to think about the romantic collision between the individual and social norms, the counterpointing of the self against society’s hypocritical declarations of tolerance, and the complex relationship between freedom and control in cultural and everyday paradigms.

Total Body Workout. 2002.

Fortune-teller online. 2002.

Out of Control II (A Deadly Game). 2009.

Diagnostics of Karma. 2003.