Izstāde “Line 1. Līnija”

The exhibition reveals Rīga through the lens of a "slit-scan" camera.

Unlike a regular camera that captures a single moment, the "slit-scan" camera creates images linearly – similar to a copier scanner – following a different logic of time and space. The result is a series of surreal and multilayered images where time, movement, and perception intertwine.

As a result of researching the "slit-scan" technique, Roelof Kiers has created a film, a book, and a participatory installation. The installation is a custom-built "slit-scan" camera by the artist himself, allowing visitors both to test how this technique works and to add their own portraits to the exhibition collection.

In the film and the book, Roelof's gaze glides over Rīga, riding tram number 1 and documenting the landscape from Imanta to Jugla. The images reveal the dynamics of modern life – people, cars, streets, and buildings – while the speed of the tram shapes the perception of time and space, stretching and compressing the images. Time in the film slips out of synchronicity: the landscape seems to slide both forward and backward, and people sometimes appear to run backward – the "slit-scan" becomes a choreography of space and time.