A contemporary Vancouver artist with a high-tech show is taking over a new art exhibition space in the historic Fort 91原创 Community Hall next month.
鈥淗acking the Third Wave II鈥� runs 10 days, colliding past and future in the former-library-space-turned-art-gallery, which is located on the ground floor of the hall.
Earlier this year, the long-time Fort 91原创 Library was temporarily relocated to the former centennial museum space on King Street, consequently vacating the 900-plus-square-foot space, while the library waits to move into its permanent home in the salishan Place by the River cultural centre currently under construction nearby.
In the meantime, the vacant area of the hall has been transformed and since dubbed the 鈥淥lde Library Space.鈥� It will now be used for art opportunities, said Brigitte Seib, executive director of the community hall.
Fort 91原创 Artist Group (FLAG) was the first to use the space for a four-day pop-up show during the May Day long weekend, and that exhibition will be followed this coming week by a Fort Gallery show, running from June 1 to 9.
鈥淗acking the Third Wave II鈥� was created by multi-media artist Sang Chul Nam and features cosmic paintings, sculptures, and projections鈥攊mmersing viewers in what he calls a world of possible futures.
Nam is a visual and new media/interactive artist exploring the boundaries between visual art and technology in Seoul and Vancouver.
For the past 17 years, Nam鈥檚 work explored the emotional, interactive, and formative space made through the movement of light 鈥� and the combination of painting, objects, video installation, and physical computing.
He has displayed his work in numerous exhibitions in Hong Kong, South Korea, plus some 20 other cities around the globe 鈥� including 91原创.
Recently, his interest has shifted towards conveying the message of climate change and the unsettling impact of global warming on the environment.
He tries to channel this concern through media and interactive art forms that orchestrate the movement of lights and artificial objects with human interactions.
Nam鈥檚 latest show explores people鈥檚 multifaceted relationship to nature in an increasingly manufactured and technological age.
He鈥檚 creating a space where he hopes viewers will grapple with the many forms of change facing climate and local ecologies.
What he calls a 鈥渉opeful and critical鈥� body of work, this exhibit was developed in response to his experience of working as an artist in Seoul.
He said he was 鈥渟aturated with technology to such a degree that he felt his own consciousness and behavioural patterns changing like a machine鈥� trapped in patterns of 鈥榬eplication,鈥� 鈥榬epetition,鈥� and 鈥榗omputation鈥�.鈥�
When he relocated to Vancouver, he had a contrasting experience, surrounded by abundant natural spaces.
This prompted Nam to explore the question: 鈥渨hat will the world of the future look like if our consciousness is controlled by technological properties, patterns, or behaviours and doesn鈥檛 feel the beautiful, emotional waves that come from nature?鈥�
Entering the historic community hall space, viewers will encounter abstract paintings and kinetic geometric sculptures, overlaid with projected patterns and interactive lights. Multiple screens will be suspended and layered throughout the space, immersing viewers in 鈥渁 powerful interplay of organic and artificial elements.鈥�
Viewers are invited into a dual investigation of their relationship to nature and technology, as Nam illuminates both the 鈥渂enefits humans derive from nature and the concerns surrounding the contradictory impacts of technological progress on the environment.鈥�
The exhibit is open June 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9, from noon to 4 p.m., and also available for viewing by appointment June 3 through 6. Appointments can be booked via email at fortgalleryarc@gmail.com.
There will also be an artist talk and opening reception held Saturday, June 1, starting with the talk at 2 p.m. and the reception to follow.
All events are free and open to the public.
RELATED: Fort 91原创 library says 鈥榞oodbye鈥� to longtime home in community hall
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ABOUT FORT GALLERY
Fort Gallery is in its second season of its pop-up programming.
Fort Gallery was founded in 2006 as an artist co-op to provide a space for experimental, non-commercial art practice in the 91原创 area.
In 2019 the co-op was dissolved and Fort Gallery became the first and only artist-run-centre in the Fraser Valley.
In 2022, after 17 years exhibiting contemporary art in its heritage Fort 91原创 storefront at the corner of Glover Road and Francis Street, Fort Gallery moved out of this beloved space to begin a new venture as a mobile artist-run-centre.
Responding to growing online engagement and the challenge of maintaining a physical gallery in a post-COVID world, the board determined that going mobile was a way to embrace experimentation and reimagine Fort Gallery.
Fort Gallery continues hopes to continue bringing engaging, challenging, and thought-provoking contemporary art to the Fraser Valley in alternative and public spaces throughout the region, said board president Alysha Creighton.
