I opened my laptop and signed into Zoom.
Technology seemed to be a prominent theme throughout my conversation with Gabriel George. We decided to meet online for a discussion about his artworks and he would hold up his iPad and point to the screen to explain details of his work to me. Fortunately, nobody froze during the zoom meeting. There was a sense of harmony as we unveiled the focus on technology in Gabriel’s handmade artworks in this technologically powered conversation that gave me a glimpse into an envisioned artistic future.
Born in India and having worked as an Associate Art Director in the film industry, Gabriel George moved to Canada in 2015, and is pursuing a degree in the Sculpture and Installation program at OCAD University. Gabriel has diverse experience across disciplines: he was trained as a biomedical engineer, acquired visual skills during his work experience in the film industry,and is now training in the visual arts. The rich background of the artist is reflected in his work, in both the socio-cultural sensitivity, the theme of technology in his ideas and the futuristic touch that is prominent in the world he has constructed through art. Gabriel’s work includes painting, sculpture, performance, installation, and he embraces mixed mediums, as well as experimental mediums.
Gabriel George’s first encounter with the artistic world began with his father. Gabriel’s father was an artist. As a child, Gabriel witnessed the creative process of artmaking on a daily basis in an intimate, familial environment. For Gabriel, art became a medium for self-expression. When I asked him why he had decided to transition from a successful position as an Associate Art Director in the film industry, which was also a creative role, to start anew in the visual arts, Gabriel simply pointed out the fundamental difference of storytelling in the two fields. He explained to me that in the field of filmmaking, the script sets the boundaries as to what should be expressed, while in visual arts, the artist, and the artist alone, decides what the message is and how it should be conveyed. Embracing the full freedom of the visual arts, Gabriel aims to express messages on social phenomena, environmental issues, and technology through a futuristic language in his works. “Art can make good impacts in society, even if it’s a really small work, it can reach globally. Art as a medium, is powerful.” For Gabriel, filmmaking is about world-making, where the director takes the audience into the constructed world in the movie and the audience becomes a part of that world. Similarly, the artist should perform the same role of the world-maker: the artwork should engage the audience and take them into the world the artist constructs. This is why Gabriel promotes interaction with spectators in his artworks. Dwelling on the idea of “the future” is another way of world-making. Gabriel’s works display a prominent futuristic theme, through which he warmly invites the audience, takes them by the hand and brings them into his vision of the future.
In “Voyager of the Future” (2022), he envisions the future of our planet. The sculpture brings the audience on a journey in the future, where Mars becomes the new Earth. The imagination is based on scientific reasoning: an astronaut is traveling on a camel, an animal that can sustain itself in harsh environmental conditions without the need for water. Both the human and animal wear spacesuits, carrying oxygen pumps and other necessities on this journey in search of another planet for the human race. By incorporating futuristic and scientific elements, Gabriel sheds light on the pressing environmental issues in this sculpture.
“Pepe – 2050” is another sculpture that gives the audience a glimpse into the future world. The sculpture is made of found objects (a printer), and is intended to be a found object itself, in a future world. “People are now using robots in their homes in all different ways, they will become more popular in the coming years. Once these robots are not working anymore, what happens then? People will put these robots outside their homes…maybe after ten years, when I’m walking on the streets, I’ll be collecting something like this on the street, instead of electronic equipment we see now, like a TV or a fridge, maybe we’re seeing more robots on the street.” By presenting and framing the artwork which is made of found objects today, to be a found object of the future world, Gabriel shares possibilities of the future society to the present audience.
By using the narrative, the artwork, and the space around the art in the cases of installations, Gabriel is engaging his audience to voice out his ideas. If Gabriel’s art is about being vocal, and he has employed so many ways and so many mediums to do so, what does he see as a mark of success in his artworks? And that is the question I asked. Gabriel paused briefly to contemplate on his response to what marks the success of an artist. He then looked up, and said “it is connected to producing work that gives us happiness and peace of mind”. I nodded in agreement as he continued: “no matter how you do it…it’s an artist’s responsibility to find their own perfect job to nourish themselves. It’s not about being known, it’s about the happiness.
When we create something, we should be happy first, then only the audience will be happy, or they will be connected to the work”. In addition to bringing happiness to his audience and himself, Gabriel incorporates a sense of prediction to his artworks. Gabriel discloses that artists are forward-looking people, and that as an artist, he always looks for what the new thing is in the community, and how he might employ it to make his art better. By looking forward in both being aware of present societal changes and envisioning the future through his artworks, Gabriel shares a precious glimpse into the future world with us.
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