Knitwork
ongoing since 1992
unravelled used garments, with text and photographic documentation , approx. 2m x increasing length
Begun in February 1992, Knitwork is a life-long piece made by my unraveling used garments and re-knitting the yarn into a single continuously growing object. As it records the ongoing passage of time and effort, the work becomes a monument to the artifacts that comprise it, to mundane activity, and to everyday labour. As a visual record of the passage of time, the details of the piece incidentally register variations in my process, and through these one can retrace a history of decisions. Although the slow accumulation of layers of obsolete goods might recall geological processes, the limits of the piece are actually human; the work will be finished when I cease (to be). It is both sublime and resolutely absurd, both excessive and banal, both rigorous and formless; in other words, it is a practical test of the imagination.
Some presentations of the object include a list chronicling the contents of the piece and/or photographs of the garments most recently added or a small stockpile of garments ready for unravelling. As of 2002, the piece included almost 300 garments. I sometimes perform the work in public while the piece is on exhibition.
Solo Exhibitions:
Angel Row Gallery,
Knitwork, Sep-Nov 2005.
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Solo Exhibitions:
Germaine Koh: Open Hours, Fall 2002.
Solo Exhibitions:
The British Museum,
Knitwork, Feb-Apr 2002.
Solo Exhibitions:
Southern Alberta Art Gallery,
Germaine Koh: Knitwork, 1997.
Solo Exhibitions:
Knitwork, 1996.
Solo Exhibitions:
Knitwork, 1995.
Solo Exhibitions:
Knitwork/Tricot-âge, Sep-Nov 1993.
Solo Exhibitions:
Germaine Koh - Knitwork; Germaine Koh/Gordon Hicks - There|Here, 2012.
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Group Exhibitions:
Art Gallery of Ontario,
All Together Now: Recent Toronto Art, Nov 2008-Spring 2009.
Group Exhibitions:
2004 Sobey Art Award Exhibition, Oct-Dec 2004.
Group Exhibitions:
One Surprising Party, 13 Apr 2002.
Group Exhibitions:
Art Gallery of Ontario,
Waste Management, Apr-Jul 1999.
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Group Exhibitions:
Biennale of Sydney,
Every Day: 11th Biennale of Sydney , Sep-Nov 1998.
Group Exhibitions:
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria,
London Life Young Contemporaries '96, 1998.
Group Exhibitions:
London Regional Art and Historical Museums (now Museum London),
London Life Young Contemporaries '96, Sep-Oct 1996.
Group Exhibitions:
Center on Contemporary Art,
Home Remedies and Magnificent Obsessions, Jul-Aug 1995.
Group Exhibitions:
The New Gallery,
Bodies of Evidence, Jun 1995.
Group Exhibitions:
Or Gallery,
Group exhibition, Apr-May 1995.
Group Exhibitions:
University of Toronto Scarborough,
Connections, Feb-Mar 1995.
Group Exhibitions:
Randolph Street Gallery,
I Love What I'm Doing, Jan-Feb 1995.
Group Exhibitions:
Maison de la culture Frontenac,
Fibres nerveuses, Dec 1994-Jan 05.
Group Exhibitions:
Galerie SAW Gallery,
Home, Sep-Oct 1994.
Group Exhibitions:
Eastern Edge,
Home, Aug 1994.
Group Exhibitions:
Graduate exhibition, 1993.
Group Exhibitions:
McIntosh Gallery,
Secret Stash: Accumulation, Hoarding and the Love of Stuff, 2013.
Catalogues & Books:
Adam Geczy,
Germaine Koh, Homemaking, 2003.
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Catalogues & Books:
Cliff Eyland,
Germaine Koh: Around About , 2001.
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Catalogues & Books:
Christina Ritchie,
Waste Management, 1999.
Catalogues & Books:
Anne Marie Léger,
Fibres nerveuses, 1994.
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Patrice Loubier,
Germaine Koh Works., 2005.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Bethany Lyttle,
Interweave Knits, Spring 2005.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Elissa Barnard,
Halifax Herald, 29 Sep 2004.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Pascale Beaudet,
exhibition essay, Feb 2004.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Sharon Aris,
It's my party and I'll knit if I want to!, 2003.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Pennina Barnett,
Women: a cultural review, Winter 2002.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Steve Reinke,
Germaine Koh: Open Hours, 2002.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Regina Haggo,
Hamilton Spectator, 28 Sep 2002.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Sarah Milroy,
Globe and Mail, 3 Nov 2001.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Catherine Osborne,
Canadian Forum, Mar 2000.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Laura U Marks,
Tout le temps / Every Time: Biennale de Montréal 2000, 2000.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Dana Samuel,
Fuse, 2000.
Read
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Si Si Peñaloza,
Now, 8-14 Apr 1999.
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Adriana Garcia,
El Universal, 20 Apr 1999.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Gary Michael Dault,
Globe and Mail, 17 Apr 1999.
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Christopher Hume,
Toronto Star, 15 Apr 1999.
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Ingrid Chu,
National Post , 8 Apr 1999.
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Ihor Holubizky,
Canadian Art, Spring 1999.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Jan Allen,
Every Day: 11th Biennale of Sydney , 1998.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Joy Hickson,
Lethbridge Herald, 18 Jul 1997.
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Jan Allen,
Germaine Koh: Personal, 1997.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Dionne McAffee,
exhibition brochure, 1995.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Robin Laurence,
Vancouver Sun, 13 May 1995.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Janis Bowley,
exhibition brochure, 1995.
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Mary Murphy, Karen Reimer & Jane Saks,
exhibition brochure, 1995.
Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Jennifer Couëlle,
ETC, Feb-May 1994.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Michele White,
Cahiers du B-312, 1993.
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Reviews, Articles & Essays:
Marie-Ève Charron,
Le Devoir, 2012.
Collection(s): Art Gallery of Ontario
Germaine Koh, Knitwork, 1992, unravelled used garment reknit into growing object. Presentation at British Museum, 2002
