Archives have a way of coming back to life when they are accessed by those seeking answers to questions they may have. This is the premise of A.S.M. Kobayashi’s most recent exhibition entitled Electric Neon Clock, which you can find at the Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM). The exhibition explores the questions she posed to a personally meaningful government archive — and as the title suggests, the result is an energetic, enigmatic, and eccentric experience that should not be missed.
A.S.M. Kobayashi is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist who was born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario, and is now based in Toronto and New York City. Kobayashi’s work explores hybrid and interactive forms that mix documentary and fiction through video, performance, installation, and illustration. Originating during her undergraduate years, her artistic practice, which draws on materials, memory, and personal history, has continued to evolve in her academic and professional career.
The artist is a warm, genuine, and down-to-earth person, whose kindness and approachable nature make her a pleasure to work with. Electric Neon Clock is a deeply personal reflection of her personality and past. As part of Electric Neon Clock, Kobayashi has constructed massive yet whimsical and delicate wire mobile kinetic structures made of balanced and suspended shapes that move gracefully with the air currents. This complex hanging mobile features vertical strings balancing small objects that represent the Kobayashi and Aoki (both from the paternal side) family tree. The objects are sugar cubes, doll furniture, and other inanimate objects gathered by the children of the families.
This work leads you toward the back of the gallery, where the sound of an ongoing auction can be heard. That auction, which is actually a recording simulation of personal objects being priced and the audience asked to bid or offer monetary amounts, gives us insight into what’s really going on here. Lights and sound are key elements utilized in this recorded performance work. Recorded interviews and images of family members and documents interrupt parts of this performative auction. Kobayashi turned to her own family’s archives, which are part of Canada’s history of forcibly incarcerating and dispossessing thousands of Canadians of Japanese heritage. The idea for the project was sparked when the artist first encountered her great-grandfather’s custodial file, and discovered other case files belonging to other relatives, their friends, and communities. These World War II-era historical documents contain countless pages of inventories of homes and businesses, plus government correspondence, internal memos, and court transcripts. All adults named in the original documents have passed away, and their children, now seniors, are the only remaining family members who can speak to this period, though they were infants or young children at the time.
Inadvertently, the custodial file has become a critical record of the artist’s family history. Electric Neon Clock looks at how such government and forensic records, created to document families and communities, can be revisited and used to tell a different story. Using the custodial file as a starting point, Kobayashi brings her family’s experiences into both installation and live performance. Through video storytelling, sound, photographs, substantial archival documents, and the innovative live auction, audiences are invited to look through the family’s records, consider their value in a different and humanizing way, and connect the documents to the people and stories behind them.
Both the artist and curator Shannon Anderson have done outstanding work creating traction for this new art show. The exhibition’s gallery opening took place during the Japan Festival Canada, one of the largest festivals held at Mississauga’s Celebration Square. In an origami paper boat event outside the AGM, children and adults were encouraged to fold, create, and decorate their own origami boats with durable, water-resistant synthetic paper. Electric Neon Clock and the broader history of Japanese Canadian fishing communities inspired the drop-in workshop. Participants, who had a wonderful time, had the opportunity to float their boats in the Celebration Square Splash Pad or keep them as mementos. They constructed more than 35 origami boats — some of which were even “registered” on a large meeting board and left for the participants to view until the end of the event. The ongoing exhibition is a rich and layered experience guaranteed to prompt discussion and insight. Visitors can enjoy the exhibition in about 30-60 minutes, and it includes other activities for children to take part in while the adults are viewing the work in the gallery. A live auction, similar to the recorded performance auction found at the back of the gallery, is planned for later in October 21, 22, 23, and 24. Check out the AGM websites for more details. You will not want to miss this performance work!
Electric Neon Clock runs until October 26, 2026, at 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, ON. Find more information at AGM.
© Arlene San Agustin, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2026
