Rūdolfs Štamers transforms a historical manor space into a constellation of sculptural and ready-made compositions. These works are built from an ever-expanding collection of carefully selected objects that he has gathered over the past five years. Each item, whether mundane, exotic, functional, or decorative, carries an aesthetic presence and a story. While the criteria for selection are not fixed, a sense of the unusual and the foreign is undeniable.

Collected during travels across the world, these objects form eclectic combinations that reveal the vast spectrum of commercial culture. They highlight the myriad “fruits” of capitalism- products created to catch the eye, provoke desire, and perpetuate the aspiration to follow trends, ideals, and the endless mantra of consumption.

In global city centers, tourist souvenir shops echo this phenomenon. Like scavengers, they swarm around travelers, leaving behind a lingering scent of mass-produced kitsch. This constant presence of commodified exoticism has inspired a broader reflection on society’s fascination with the West, trends, and the elusive American Dream, often at the cost of diluting one’s authenticity.

The titles of the works reinforce the essence of the ready-made. They echo the longing to conform to external models, to adopt imported codes of behavior, and to follow scripts written elsewhere. Beyond visual communication, the series touches on the complexities of human connection and language- another form of art. Štamers draws inspiration from the absurd definitions found in unofficial online dictionaries, using them to craft messages that deepen the conceptual layers of his work.

This body of work becomes a journey through objects, language, and desire- a meditation on how we collect, imitate, and seek meaning in a world shaped by commerce, myth, and longing.

photos from group show DECENTRALITY DISPERSED IN ONE PLACE, curaror and photograthy by Annemarija Gulbe