Nine Fishes is taken from my great-grandfather Ho Chat Yuen’s observational work of a Koi pond.

The eerie, opaque grey water and a little school of koi fish drifting around alluded me to start thinking of what this could look like in our post-colonial, industrialized landscape. In this work, technological ways of manipulating traditional craft and life is an era that is present in reality. In this installation, the work plays on the notion of science fiction and the exaggeration of technologies saturating our land, water and life.  This is not intended to replicate my great-grandfather’s paintings, but to critique his work in the subject of our present era. Nonetheless, He Qiyuan strived for synthesizing the east and west as a way to innovate Chinese style paintings. Therefore, it made sense for me to innovate his paintings by creating a narrative of my current experiences in conversation with his imagery.

 Technology and mass-industrialization is rapidly becoming more in tuned with our everyday life. CNC routing and robotic fish are technologies that are present in our modern ways of fabrication and play. The CNC and robotic fish speak in relation to the future, where robots and computers are slowly alternating our environment and bodies. In Meining’s text, he mentions  how the geographical landscape is ultimately altered from our perspective on what we think progression is. Therefore, the pond is a metaphor for our societal progress in contrast to the Anthropocene we have created. The pool water is tainted with peptol bismol, mimicking bodies of water that are polluted in our ecosystem. The structure and robotic fish imply technological advancement, however, the eery noise, the opaqueness of the water suggests the hidden truth that could potentially harm us.

Materials: Baltic Birch Plywood (3/4”), Peptol Bismol, Water, Robotic Fish, Flexi-Seal (Almond)

Dimensions: 22” x 55” x ¾”