My heart is empty as a mirror - Riga Episode 2018

Curator: Here we have Gian Maria Tosatti's 2018 work, "My heart is empty as a mirror - Riga Episode," primarily utilizing photography and installation-art techniques. Editor: Striking. The composition is immediately unsettling—the harsh lighting, the clinical tubes… It's viscerally evokes illness, even death. Curator: Indeed. Let’s consider the formal arrangement; the diagonal of the breathing tube bisects the frame, juxtaposed against the horizontality of the bed. This stark division is crucial to the piece's impact. What do you make of this harsh geometric divide? Editor: The tube, serpentine in form, leads to the stark mound of what seems to be a shrouded body. A powerful vanitas symbol—reminding us of the brevity of life and the ultimate emptiness that awaits. Consider also the use of such imagery over history--how prone we are to fear and remember it. Curator: Excellent point. The symbolic reading intersects intriguingly with the play of light and shadow. The light source, clearly artificial, focuses the eye—rendering the scene almost theatrical. Notice, however, how it fails to fully illuminate the space, casting long, ominous shadows. This use of chiaroscuro amplifies the image's emotional depth, turning something commonplace into a terrifying encounter. Editor: It begs the question: Is the mirror mentioned in the title an actual looking glass, or a metaphor for confronting our mortality reflected in this lifeless form? This symbol of a "Riga episode" suggests historical or cultural traumas linked to death, creating further unease and prompting one to consider the effect of modern technological methods in mediating encounters with grief. Curator: Yes, and given that this work blurs lines across photographic media and site-specific installations, it almost prompts a kind of voyeuristic experience within death’s spectacle—rendering an experience intensely disorienting. Editor: A fittingly haunting piece, both visually and conceptually. Curator: Precisely—an exemplar of contemporary landscape where symbolic imagery elevates raw emotions into haunting contemplation.