Joanne Lam
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in Hong Kong, Joanne Lam currently
lives and works in Montreal as an intern architect, an emerging
artist and a writer. The move from a very dense metropolitan
Hong Kong to a relatively flat and sparse Canada triggered
her awareness and interest for the built environment. At
the same time, while constantly oscillating between two
cultures, she developed an interest in exploring the in
between state, where she belongs to both and neither. Upon
receiving a Masters in Architecture from the University
of Waterloo, she has embarked on several projects that operate
at the juncture of architecture, art and literature. Through
her artworks, writings, and designs she presents a unique
perspective on our relations with one another and to our
surroundings.
PRESENTED WORK
SUSPENDED, QUEBEC, 2004
The film begins with a recording of a piece of writing
read aloud. Slowly, a highway emerges. Clips of intermingling
bodies and internal vessels overlay the highway. The pace
of the film gradually increases until the end when it stops
very abruptly in a crash. It is a piece that explores the
idea of non-land, constantly shifting and never grounded.
The flyovers and underpasses of the highway system epitomize
the idea. Being on the road also speaks about being in between
points, meaning that one is also psychologically ungrounded.
Like a body slithering across the nation, the highway gyrates
and follows the ups and downs of the landscape. The fastness
of the highway juxtaposes against the slowness of our bodies.
It is a state of being suspended, one to which we are attracted
but at the same time find unsettling.
