Heather Keung
Art Works
Romantic Survivalists
Dates: March 31-April 15, 2015
Performance, talk and reception: Tuesday, April 14, 5:00pm-8:00pm
Location: 867 Dundas St West, Toronto, Ontario
Organized by Siya Chen as part of Being Generation, with support from the Ontario Arts Council and Gendai Gallery
Ten years ago we began a life changing project that included the rebuild of an eighteen-fifty’s heritage log home, located on a non-operating 50 acre farm on Upper Chemong Lake in Lakefield, Ontario. More recently, in the fall and winter of 2014, we set out on a self-directed residency to further develop our research into the experience of living off-the-grid. The residency and exhibition will focus on several short videos in-progress that show the reality of the lifestyle and the day to day work that became essential to our survival. Over the duration of the residency, the artists will workshop and document performance-based projects play on themes and artistic approach that emerged from the experience.
Triangles
by Michael Connor & Heather Keung
Invited by Heather Phillips, Earl Selkirk Gallery
Site specific installation, interactive workshop
Part of the Junction Summer Solstice Festival,
2928 Dundas St West Toronto, ON
June 21st to September 20, 2014
Triangles are multifunctional modular pieces that can be playfully reinterpreted to a range of uses. Heavy duty triangular objects made from reclaimed decking material from job sites, mostly under 2ft cut-offs, can be used outdoor/indoor for patio furniture, step stools, planters, children’s play structures and more.
Five Wheel Drive
​by Michael Connor & Heather Keung
Invited by Heather Phillips, Earl Selkirk Gallery
Site specific installation
Part of the Junction Summer Solstice Festival,
2928 Dundas St West Toronto, ON
June 21st to September 20, 2014
Five Wheel Drive is a kinetic sculpture made from found materials such as bike wheels and reclaimed wood. The machine is inspired by 19th century rope and belt drive systems that are simple, efficient, inexpensive and highly tolerant methods used to transmit power. The installation is not powered by electricity, but instead seconds of engagement with the viewer. By a simple turning action, a rotational movement is converted to a linear movement and oscillating movement that bring inanimate objects magically to life.
Escapement
​by Michael Connor & Heather Keung
Installation at A Space Gallery, 401 Richmond Street West, Toronto, March 1-30, 2013
Text by Serena Lee (click first image)
Four kinetic sculptures interpret early clock mechanisms called escapements from 13th century Europe and Asia. These machines are not powered by electricity, but instead seconds of engagement with the viewer. By a simple lifting or pulling action, energy is stored in a suspended weight and slowly released through a delicate self-reversing movement. They are made from found materials such as bike wheels and reclaimed wood from our home. What could be seen as inaccurate time keeping machines of sorts, are more so meditations on the potential of this technology as a renewable energy source.
Middle Zone
​by Michael Connor & Heather Keung
Curated by Su-Ying Lee, Blackwood Gallery
Site specific installation at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), 952 Queen Street West, Toronto, April 17 to May 22, 2011
Part of an exhibition taking place in four locations, The Good Host can be experienced as one, or a series of encounters that provoke deliberation. The aim is to unfix the viewer’s perception of prescribed uses for urban space and reconsider their own agency within it. As a proposition on spatial problems in the urban environment, The Good Host draws attention to access to and denial of space, the prescriptive assignment of spaces and the manner in which these conventions shape our consciousness.
Enduring Excellence
by Heather Keung
Curated by Alissa Firth-Eagland
Photo series exhibited as part of CONTACT Festival of Photography at Le Labo Gallery
55 Mill Road, # 317,Toronto, Apr 30-May 28, 2011
This photo series was created in anticipation of participating in the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad, where I had the opportunity to present a video installation as part of Paul Wong’s projects 5. The work investigates the conditioning of physical and mental strength, endurance and excellence, and focuses peek moments of involuntary reaction under pressure.