Germaine Koh: Weather Systems is on at the Kamloops Art Gallery, April 6 to June 15. 32 Galleries West Spring 2013
www.gallerieswest.ca
OPPOSITE TOP PHOTO: SCOTT AUGUST
time it is displayed, it is accompanied by documentation showing previous states. The portrait is less about creating a record of herself and more about the act of painting and the process of aging. Koh immigrated to Canada from Malaysia at age two with her parents, who were teachers, and was raised in Armstrong, B.C. She attended the University of Ottawa, earning degrees in fine arts and art history, and then completed her MFA at Hunter College in New York in 1993. She soon established an active, if peripatetic, career that saw her travel regularly to exhibitions and residencies in Canada and beyond, as well as curating and lecturing. In 2004, she was one of five finalists for the Sobey Art Award, which recognizes Canadian artists under 40. She began teaching at Emily Carr University in Vancouver a few years later. In 2010, she was honoured with a VIVA Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements by mid-career artists in British Columbia. A decade ago, Koh began a three-part series, Fair-weather forces, that explores relationships between human behaviour and natural or meteorological elements. The series, which will be brought together in one venue for the first time in Kamloops, includes wind speed, a turnstile with a built-in motor controlled by a device that monitors wind speeds outside the gallery. Essentially, the turnstile moves in relation to the wind’s power. “It is a real-time monitor of what is going on outside,” says Koh. “There’s something weird about these pieces in that they are reporting information to us that we should already know about if we have any kind of attentiveness to our environment. If it’s a blustery day, we should know that without having to see this turnstile inside spinning madly around. But the way that we live our lives is such that sometimes we don’t have the time to pay attention to outside signals.” The next piece in the series, (sun : light), undercuts the usual purpose of interior lighting. Lights are bright during the day. But as the sun goes down, they slowly fade to darkness. The final piece, (water level), features a row of stainless steel posts linked by velvet ropes, the type of structure typically used to control crowds. But here, the ropes are connected to electronic and mechanical feedback systems that relay the real-time water level of a nearby water body. Ropes rise and fall as the water rises and falls. The piece aims to draw attention to phenomena that might otherwise be unrelated – social-control systems and the unpredictable movement of natural forces. “In past times, commerce was genuinely affected by the environment, more so than now,” says Koh. “For example, if a storm came up, ships couldn’t be unloaded. I’m relating natural-system rhythms to man-made barrier systems that we are familiar with today.” Given the range of technology, you might suspect Koh is a computer geek. Not so, she insists. She learned everything from scratch, including programming and engineering electronics. “There’s something magical about soldering something together then plugging it in,” she says. “It either blows up or it works. Ultimately, I would like my work to help in a general demystification of technology. It is a huge barrier for a lot of people . . . Hopefully, my work underscores the idea that technology doesn’t have to be frightening.”