This is the sort of thing one might intentionally leave out of their composition if they were taking a photo of the library.
Public art makes more sense to me when the project itself isn't architecturally distinct. When you have something that's inherently elegant, it's easy to detract from it rather than add - as seems to be the case here.
It's funny cause according to the artist it's supposed to look like a cross between a drinking bird and a hockey player. So he's nailed that. There's also a big orange fish face inside made out of books. 10000 books. Sounds very cool.
I really think these international artists just google calgary and go, ok these guys like nature, chinook arches, moose, birds, salmon. Hockey, cowboy stuff and indian stuff. Wait...first nation? What the...
A new public art piece on the median of Kingsway, just east of Gladstone Street, in East Vancouver is causing passersby to turn their heads.
Earlier this month, Vancouver-based developer Westbank installed ‘108 Steps’ – a super-tall ladder designed by local artist Khan Lee. The developer funded the piece as part of its public art contribution for its Kensington Gardens mixed-use redevelopment, which is now nearing completion.
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It's funny cause according to the artist it's supposed to look like a cross between a drinking bird and a hockey player. So he's nailed that. There's also a big orange fish face inside made out of books. 10000 books. Sounds very cool.
I really think these international artists just google calgary and go, ok these guys like nature, chinook arches, moose, birds, salmon. Hockey, cowboy stuff and indian stuff. Wait...first nation? What the...
so a library has artwork where the artist destroyed thousands of books?
that says something.
Last edited by GordonBlue; 11-01-2018 at 07:48 AM.
so a library has artwork partly made of destroyed books?
that says something.
Yeah I thought that was a bit edgy too but they're not real books. He had them manufactured and so they are blank inside. Gets the price closer to the required 1% and keeps the book hippies off you back.
I like the ladder but keeping Steve O off it would be a pain.
Yeah I thought that was a bit edgy too but they're not real books. He had them manufactured and so they are blank inside. Gets the price closer to the required 1% and keeps the book hippies off you back.
I like the ladder but keeping Steve O off it would be a pain.
I live 4 blocks down from this thing, had no idea it was 'art' assumed it was going to have traffic lights or a camera at the top, kept waiting to see what it was the ladder was needed for, finally occurred to me that this was it, that my drive to Safeway was being delayed endlessly to put up a massive pointless object in the middle of the road that will either be climbed up by idiots or hit by a truck and fall on someone.
As art I have no idea what it symbolises other than someone got a shed load of money for a ladder.
I like the ladder and I like the bird. both are interesting to me.
I get that there are some people in this thread that don't like the public art projects that are being built. Can those people answer one question for me?
a) Would you rather see different art projects? What are some examples of public art projects that you approve of? or,
b) Would you prefer that the government saved the money to fix more potholes, do more street cleaning, or whatever else?
I live 4 blocks down from this thing, had no idea it was 'art' assumed it was going to have traffic lights or a camera at the top, kept waiting to see what it was the ladder was needed for, finally occurred to me that this was it, that my drive to Safeway was being delayed endlessly to put up a massive pointless object in the middle of the road that will either be climbed up by idiots or hit by a truck and fall on someone.
As art I have no idea what it symbolises other than someone got a shed load of money for a ladder.
Just wait until someone decides to end their life on that ladder. I mean they can't guard it 24 hours a day. That thing is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
I like the bird, but the 'Ladder to Nowhere' seems kind of stupid.
Heres what I propose:
Lets get some beer and a truck and some engineers and take our stupid blue ring to Vancouver and devise the World's Largest Game of Ring Toss ever!
Why they didn't take it a step further, put a TV screen in the middle of the ring and play historical video footage as a salute to the Star Trek Episode City on the Edge of forever is beyond me. Except you'd have conspiracy nuts and drunk star trek fans throwing themselves through the middle of the ring in the hopes of time travelling and nailing Joan Collins.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
a) Would you rather see different art projects? What are some examples of public art projects that you approve of? or,
b) Would you prefer that the government saved the money to fix more potholes, do more street cleaning, or whatever else?
I really like the Joe Fafard sculpture of running horses in the court house grounds down town. They're my fav...
Spoiler!
They're running in a field of native grass too.
I love the King Bridge because it looks like a skipping stone...
Spoiler!
The Steel Wave by Roy Leadbeater in front of the CBC building on Memorial was fantastic, a true representation of mid century style and artistic sense...
Spoiler!
The Encana head is great. The Conversation by McElcheran is iconic. I like the Chinook Winds towers on 8th ave.
I don't love when the mandate is to create something special and unique for our city and we get something that is ultra derivative of the artist's other work. There are rocks being held up by sticks all over North America but somehow our Del Giest tower is original and conceptually unique to us. We see that in all the art we get now when it comes from out of country.
I like the art and think anything is better than nothing, but I do think there are better choices to be had at better prices. And I think finding established artists working at the top of their field is different than the specific public art artists we're getting. Instead of throwing out a tender and seeing who responds maybe we could approach someone established as a fine art artist and work with them on a commission.
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I really like the Joe Fafard sculpture of running horses in the court house grounds down town. They're my fav...
Spoiler!
They're running in a field of native grass too.
I love the King Bridge because it looks like a skipping stone...
Spoiler!
The Steel Wave by Roy Leadbeater in front of the CBC building on Memorial was fantastic, a true representation of mid century style and artistic sense...
Spoiler!
The Encana head is great. The Conversation by McElcheran is iconic. I like the Chinook Winds towers on 8th ave.
I don't love when the mandate is to create something special and unique for our city and we get something that is ultra derivative of the artist's other work. There are rocks being held up by sticks all over North America but somehow our Del Giest tower is original and conceptually unique to us. We see that in all the art we get now when it comes from out of country.
I like the art and think anything is better than nothing, but I do think there are better choices to be had at better prices. And I think finding established artists working at the top of their field is different than the specific public art artists we're getting. Instead of throwing out a tender and seeing who responds maybe we could approach someone established as a fine art artist and work with them on a commission.
That makes sense to me. You like the public art program but you think the selection committee has made mistakes in their choices on a few of the most publicized pieces.
I disagree with one statement though. ".... think there are better choices to be had at better prices." Nobody looks at an artwork and thinks "it's only okay, but I love how cheap it was!" That mindset only works for things with strict utility. The value gained by art is too nebulous to put a dollar value on, so it's hard to pick the 'better choice at a better price' before committing to build something.
I like your idea of pursuing individual artists. Or, perhaps, the city should still throw out a tender to everybody and personally invite a select few artists to apply. It's clear that the city needs to change something because so many people in Calgary are unhappy about the choices of pubilc art. I agree that the change should happen in the selection of artwork and not by cutting the budget and eliminating all art.
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