Installation Review.

“There/Here”, Germaine Koh & Gordon Hicks, Installation

I went to Surrey Art Gallery to see “There/Here”, Germaine Koh & Gordon Hicks, Installation. Both of the artists were well known to collaborate together for displays and shows. The piece, which consisted of two home sized doors connected with Internet connection wasn’t obvious to see at first but they were linked in that manner. “There/Here,” was displayed without much complexity. It was an interactive piece meaning that the doors were installed to open and close for the viewers.

“Here/There,” was something that I have never seen before, but it reminded me of the first video artist named Nam June Paik. Especially one of his works called, “Buddha.” There were several reasons why the piece reminded me of, “Buddha.” First of all, both of the work consists of two objects connecting to each other and provoking a meaning through connection and the fact that it involved the element of digital technology. Also both works can convey different meanings to individuals. However, what was different about “Here/There,” was that two people who are opening the doors from two hanging doors are interacting with each other. For example, when someone opens a door from the left, then the same would happen to the door from the right and it goes from shutting the doors shut. So it is almost a non-verbal argument between the two participants that could go on until one person gives up to shut and close the doors.

The meaning behind the piece in connection to Internet was that the doors act as two separate places and it gave the meaning of same action happening at two places, at once and at the same time. I thought that by having participants to open and close the doors, the work and it’s meaning expressed without having to think too much about the meaning of the piece.

If they were to further progress their work further, they can even use even four doors happening connected at the same time in pairs of two so that more participants can participate rather than just looking at two people interacting with the doors.

The interaction between the piece and the audience was a successful one. They were simple enough for anyone to participate in and does not require much thinking unless the viewer wanted it to be a complex idea. Their key idea of how modern life is connected it, “doubled things, spaces and people, it is argued, is integral to modern life,” is well interpreted through the use of Internet connection and two doors closing and opening at the same time when one action was caused by either side. “Here/There,” reflected their main concept clearly without much flaw.