JAPAN TIMES SUNDAY
MAY 13, 1990
Canadian collagist unfazed by change
"Systems & Synthesis" is the title of a new collage exhibition by
Canadian artist K.I.A. (Kirby Ian Andersen.) Via the collage medium
Andersen, 24, strives to sort through the disorientated jumble of data
from an increasingly information-based society. Fortunately, he is
unperturbed by the glut of information and is even optimistic as to its
future effects on society.
"In the old days," he explains, "people were swamped by all the changes,
of having gone from horses to the moon in a fairly short period. In a
way the old style of collage containing a mass of unrelated scraps
expressed that feeling. But now we've learned to deal with differing
information simultaneously."
To illustrate his claim Andersen cites the development of the new
televisions that will enable us to watch a movie and at the same time
keep tabs on a baseball game on another channel through a small window
on the same screen. He also mentions a recent sampling of music that
contains snippets of varying material from different composers.
In this, his second solo show, Andersen has moved quickly from his
earlier sharp edged forms comprised of photographed printed matter into
more blended and recognizable imagery. The collage fragments, although
designed to comment on the work as a whole, appear here in a more
textural capacity in conjunction with acrylic paint. Information in this
case has become part of the fabric of daily life.
Comprehensive
Elements of a modern, affluent society, such as money, art obsession,
even sex, are fully spun around in the Andersen collage machine and
"synthesized" into coherent shapes. the images are then "systemized" by
a series of painted grid lines. Larger works carry the idea further by
dismantling into four sections.
But more interestingly perhaps is the appearance of interactive or live
art that invites direct viewer participation as in the word picture
which you make up in your own mind from the word prompts, or in an
unfinished work left for the visitors to complete. These, plus a
previous experiment in which Andersen exhibited his work in a public
phone booth, suggest a yearning to break away from the somewhat stuffy
confines of an art gallery.
"The trouble with galleries," says Andersen, "is that they are too high
blown for the average person, which is why graffiti has always appealed
to me--because it's public."
The phone booth experiment was also partly his way of adjusting to the
physical confines of crowded Tokyo after the open spaces of his native
Calgary. "I realized that Tokyo could either be a prison or a new
horizon depending on my perception of it."
Time will tell whether it will be in collage or in live, interactive art
that this new and interesting artist will make his strongest mark.
"Systems and Synthesis" runs from May 17-22 at the Denki Onsuiki gallery
in Shibuya. (Lulu)
JAPAN TIMES SUNDAY
June 30, 1991
Collages To Be Projected
A series of collages by Canadian artist Kirby Ian Andersen will be projected onto the north wall of Tokyu Department store next to the Hachiko statue at Shibuya station July 4-7, 7-9 pm.
The even, titled Heineken Metro Garo (Gallery) is in association with the Great Canada '91 cultural event scheduled to be held at Bunkamura July 1-14.
The collages, 14 in all, will be around 100 square meteres in size. Each projection will last for 10 seconds followed by it's title in English. The three minute sequence will be repeated continuously over the two-hour period.
Heineken Metro Garo is the culmination of a number of previous art-related public experiments, which according to Andersen raise such questions as to what constitutes an art exhibition and what constitures art.
The phyiscal participation of the public, unwitting or otherwise, plays a crucial role in this type of event. "Because it's a public location," says Andersen, "the people become a part of the exhibition. It's not just the images on the wall but the interaction between the two."
He hopes the projections, the passersby and Hachiko will combine to create a fascinatingly urban, living collage. (Lulu Klaessen)
"Andersen began using panels while living in Tokyo
where his small apartment necessitated painting his
huge works one panel at a time. Now they serve a
different purpose: the panels can be rearranged by
the artist or owner of the work, just as each performer
interprets a piece of music." --John Northcott