The Garages

"Whilst I was studying at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, a like-minded colleague Peteris Kimelis and I decided to find people who still grew tea mushrooms. My memories of growing tea mushrooms were foggy - in my early childhood, on a table in the kitchen stood a three litre glass jar with a strange, see-through pancake that floated in brown water. In spite of its appearance, it was a drink that was far superior to all the Coca-colas and Fantas of today. We placed a notice in the newspaper, stating that we were looking for people that still used and grew the tea mushroom. In the end, the project became a notable advertising campaign for the good old tea mushroom - it was in the press, on television and on the radio. A documentary film was made about tea mushroom growers that was screened in a specially organised Tea Mushroom Shop that was set up right in the centre of Riga, where any passer-by could get a free baby tea mushroom in a test tube."

"I was tired of aimlessly walking the club circuit so I decided to entertain myself in a more interesting fashion, combining clubbing with the creation of a work of art. Wearing the dress code appropriate to each club so that I would not stand out from the crowd, and armed with my camera, I walked into the ladies toilets of various night clubs asking the girls and women I bumped into the same question: What is in your handbag? It is unbelievable how much one can learn about girls by checking the contents of their bags and also listening to their own comments about them."