Local artist featured on world stage
Posted Jul 22, 2010 By Tiffany Williams-Lepack
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EMC Lifestyle - Alison Chung-Yan's 'Transformation' video makes a powerful statement on how the city can embrace its natural environment in urban settings. The three- and-a-half minute video by the Kanata artist looks like a kaleidoscopic view of a city's growth by showcasing areas such as the Beaver Pond forest beside tall city buildings. The video is now on display for the entire world to see after being selected as one of 165 artists for the Canada Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in China, which runs from May 1 to Oct. 31. 
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A still image captured from Alison Chung-Yan's Transformation video, which highlights the natural and urban landscapes of Kanata is on display at the World Expo in China from May 1 to October 31.
She applied for the public call to participate in Canada's cultural program in October of 2008 and says it felt it was like sending it out into a void. She didn't hear back about it until January of this year. Her contract was only finalized in June and with Governor General Michaelle Jean in China promoting the Expo she thought it was a good time to release her selection. She also wanted to make the announcement because of the current controversy surrounding the Beaver Pond area.
"It just seems fitting to remind residents that here it is being showcased on a world stage and the theme is what it means to be a sustainable city and obviously we still have a lot of work to make sure natural lands like this are preserved and not lost with urban development," said Chung-Yan. "The current situation there worries me. A lot of the shots are from the forest around the Beaver Pond area. It would be a real shame if something so precious were lost to the Kanata area if everyone doesn't work together. I really hope that there can be an agreement reached between the council, the developers, city council and the residents."
She feels it is a real honour and is pleased to be able to share her work with other talented artists on the world stage. She was attracted to the theme of the Expo 'Better City, Better Life' and specifically the Canadian theme 'The Living City: inclusive, sustainable, creative.' "When I heard that was the theme I thought that would resonate and make perfect sense. I thought Transformation had finally found a home," said Chung-Yan.
She has lived in Kanata for the last five years and in Ottawa since 1996. She originally made the video after a public call was put out for the public art commission at the Eva James Centre and was short-listed for that installation. She felt it spoke to Kanata's history and rural heritage through to its industrial and high tech present. While she was making it she was surprised with the way the kaleidoscopic design came out.
"It's not always something that was pre-planned for me that is part of the discovery process. It's nice to go in with an idea but I believe you should leave some room for chance."
The video is being displayed in the pavilion's waiting area where they show 45 different short videos. With the queues being three to four hours, she felt it was a good way to make the area feature rich and keep all the people waiting to get in entertained.
Although she has no current plans to visit the exhibit she is pleased with the universal message the video portrays.
"I think it does more to resonate how important it is when creating cities. We have to do what we can to preserve natural beauty. We have a larger responsibility to be better stewards when we build cities."
To view the video or for more information visit her website at: www.alisonchungyan.com.
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