Imagine walking into the Alternator gallery inside the Rotary Centre for the Arts. As you move through the space, large organic forms respond to your presence. Some move, approaching you with curiosity, while others retreat, sounding off with fear. The forms sense you, they sense each other, and the complex dance changes with each visitor.
The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art presents Subtle Emergences, an interactive Eco Art exhibit by David Kadish.
As a systems design engineer, for Subtle Emergences Kadish harnessed his background as web developer and installation designer at UBC’s Eco Art Incubator. He fuses his art with tech by integrating raw materials like beeswax, wool felt and handmade paper with complex technological systems.
The central kinetic sculpture and theme of Kadish’s work is the Okanagan Sunflower, the indicator of spring in traditional Sylix knowledge. The plant’s mathematical layout of seeds provides rich inspiration for cyclic arrangements in Kadish’s art.
“Subtle Emergences questions how we see and understand ecological complexity in our world,” said gallery manager Peter Green. “For me, the exhibit inspires a re-enchantment with the natural world.”
The exhibition will be extended into public space with a wood-based sculptural installation located between the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Kelowna Art Gallery. Reiterating the complex ecological interconnectedness of a sunflower and its environment, this sculpture will react to weather, people moving through the grassy space, and the gallery’s indoor sculptures.
“Drawing on this eco-tech dichotomy, our monthly Draw by Night event on April 2 will be themed inorganic beings,” gallery assistant Megan Bowers said in a press release. The event will coincide with Downtown Kelowna’s initiative to keep Cultural District businesses open late the first Thursday of each month.
The opening reception for Subtle Emergences will be held at The Alternator April 9 at 7 p.m., when Kadish will speak of his work.
Subtle Emergences by David Kadish is at the Alternator Centre in the Rotary Centre for the Arts from March 27 to May 9. Admission to the gallery is free.
