Emergence
Video and Sound Installations
by David Kwan

October 19th - December 1st, 2007
Opening Reception: Friday, October 19th, 6 - 9pm

Two multi-channel video and sound installations by David Kwan invite the study of emergent systems, from their building blocks to their transformation into complex forms. Inspired by end-of-land vistas of the greater Pacific Rim, TERMINUS (2007) is an evolving tableau of the vast light, water and landforms in this coastal expanse. Kwan collects images and sounds from the terminal points for various roadways, shipping and rail lines from the length of San Francisco to Orcas Island and randomly superimposes them to produce a continuously transforming environment. As component elements progressively enter and leave, the composite landscape and soundscape grow with determined complexity and organicism.

In SOLARIS (2006), Kwan uses terrestrial sound in the form of radio waves as the basis for generating patterns and then shaping the space in which they inhabit. Following the notion that sound waves propagated the earliest clustering of matter, he reveals a wealth of images from the electromagnetic signature of present-day sound phenomena.. Kwan works fluidly between the mediums of video and sound to create interdisciplinary works for a wide variety of settings including exhibitions, installation, and concerts. His work is marked by gradual processes set into motion, forms unfolding over time, and nascent environments. Whether working with video or sound, he creates formal systems to reframe surroundings and magnify aspects of perception. Not interested in merely simulating nature in its manner of operation, he foregrounds transformative elements to engage experiential modes of seeing and listening, which is at the core of this artistic enterprise. Kwan has performed and exhibited work at the Berkeley Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive, Headlands Center for the Arts, Recombinant Media Labs, Artist Television Access, The Lab, CalArts, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha), Jack Straw New Media Gallery (Seattle), and Akademie Schloss Solitude (Stuttgart). He currently resides in Oakland, CA. The work in this exhibit was made possible with the generous support of Jack Straw Productions in Seattle, WA, and the Experimental Television Center in Owego, NY.

Still image from SOLARIS (2006)

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