Public Artwork
Lookout
Artwork creator(s):
Best, Noel (architect by profession); Dikeakos, Christos (artist by profession)
Text author(s):
Best, Noel (architect by profession); Dikeakos, Christos (artist by profession)
Collaborator(s):
Blaser, Robin (poet)
Installation year:
1999
Remarks on location:
False Creek North shore on the seawall, East of Davie Street.
Description:
A sculptural installation consisting of two glass-roofed pavilions separated by approximately 120 metres. The elliptical roof of each pavilion is supported by two walls made of stainless steel with cut-out silhouettes of industrial and natural forms. A second component of Lookout is a perimeter railing with cantilevered glass panels. The panels are inscribed with sandblasted words, written especially for this site in consultation with poet Robin Blaser. Midway between the two pavilions, the cut-out images are cast into the concrete walkway. Also, the artists have placed 13 simple bronze chairs throughout the site. The artwork has an accompanying Website
As part of the urban plan for this area, the artwork sited along Marinaside Crescent also had to provide shelter from the rain. The selected artist team of Noel Best and Chris Dikeakos met this challenge by providing two glass-roofed sculptural pavilions that act as portals to the view looking out over False Creek.
Best and Dikeakos consulted with Vancouver poet Robin Blaser for the text piece sandblasted into the glass balcony surrounds. A third component, 13 beautifully designed plywood chairs reminiscent of the economy of lunchroom furniture, were cast in bronze and distributed throughout the three balcony lookouts
Text of the artwork:
installation 1."shelter"
MUDFLATS EXPO
INDY BUSHLAND
“HOLE IN BOTTOM”
IS “SKWACHAYS”
STURGEON SOLE
BEEHIVE BURNER
SLOP & SHALLOW
HARBOUR SEALS
CANRON & V.I.E.W.
WOODPIPE TANK
CRAB SHIPWORM
SMELT FLOUNDER
SLEEPING CARS
ROUNDHOUSE
A RED CABOOSE
Installation 1. Balustrade. Text incomplete . Shuffle
MARSHLANDS
TIDAL FLATS
ALL FILLED UP
SEA GRASSES
CRAB
ALL BUILT AND ALL REBUILT
[…]LUMBER CO. YARDS
THINGS LEAVE
[…]RD MASTER
[…]TRAIN
Installation 2. "shelter"
ASPHALT LUMBER
OILER COOPER
BLACKSMITH CPR
YARDS SQUATTER
BOAT BUILDER
WATCHMAN SAW
WHEEL PIT COAL
SHED TAR DIPPER
SALMON COD ELK
DINING CARS
“ACRES OF DUCKS”
TOWN AND MILL
HOUSES PACIFIC
OCEAN FLOATING
DOCKS & PILING
Text incomplete. Shuffle
TIME AND TIME AGAIN
TWO
OR
THREE
PLACE
OF…
LABOUR…
GREEN
WHITE AND
RED
DOGWOOD
Text theme:
Industry, flora and fauna
Artwork theme:
Local cultures (native and non-native), celebration of the site
History:
Proposal of the Lookout installation is submitted by Dikeakos competition and Best Public Art (Vancouver) in 1998. Commissioned by Concord Pacific Group in the framework of public art in the city of Vancouver (Private Development Program). Construction in progress in 1999. Inaugurated on June 15, 2000. Note(s):
• Artist statement: "…As a public quay and access way, Marinaside Crescent is the site of a deep native and non-native knowledge, memories and history. We wanted our work to act as a 'marker' that would reflect the events and cultures of this neighbourhood and, as well, be 'of our time' and of the future. … Lookout is meant to be many things: a shelter from rain, a viewing portal, an archway, a framing device, a 'light projector' that recalls the activities that have occurred here since human occupation, a celebration of a place."
• Sponsoring Organzation: Concord Pacific Group Inc.
City of Vancouver (2009). City of Vancouver Public Art Registry.
Artist's biography:
Best, Noel
Author's biography:
Dikeakos, Christos
Owner(s):
City of Vancouver Document(s):
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