Public Artwork
Right to the City
Locations:
Ridgeway East Greenway, 5500 Nanaimo street, Vancouver, BC, V5P 4J3, Canada
See map: Google Maps
5800 Clarendon street, Vancouver, BC, Canada
See map: Google Maps
Artwork creator(s):
Forkert, Kirsten
Text author(s):
Forkert, Kirsten
Installation year:
2004 Description:
"Right to the City" involves three elements:
1) Ten resin capsules imbedded in the ground along the pathway at Nanaimo and 41st Avenue. The capsules contain paraphernalia that might be found in someone's purse or pocket.
2) Six metal door and window frames placed in a rectangle to evoke the structure of a house. The doors and windows are made of HSS tubular steel, painted white. The frames also have plates with possessive pronouns cut out of them: ours, yours, his, hers, mine, theirs.
3) Two weathervanes located on the Southeast and Northwest corners of Clarendon and 45th Avenue. They are comprised of a bearing assembly, a shaft and a rectangular sign that turns in the wind with the words "yours" and "ours" cut out.
Text of the artwork:
Ours
Yours
His
Hers
Mine
Theirs
Text theme:
Notion of community, place, citizen, city, sense of duty
Artwork theme:
The elements in this project explore the contradictions and ambiguities of public and private space.
Note(s):
"Before this tract of land became part of the Ridgeway, there was a simple beaten path crossing the space. We see this aspect of our project as a ghost-like trace of an ephemeral, unplanned path - memorializing something that is so much a part of everyday life that it almost escapes notice…" "We have marked out this path with ten clear resin capsules with objects cast into them. The objects are things you would normally carry in your pockets: notes, bus tickets, loose change, etc." About the door and window frames: Our intention is to raise questions around ideas of ownership of and entitlement to the city: whose city? Do we feel the city belongs to us because it is 'public'? Or do we think of entitlement in terms of private property: what we own or don't own?" Regarding the weathervanes: "The turning of the signs in the wind functions as metaphor for shifting notions of community, place, and a sense of entitlement we feel as citizens." "The title "Right to the City" comes from the urban theorist Henri Lefebvre's text by the same name which calls for a different envisioning of the city: for it to be organized for, and belong to, its inhabitants, rather than organized for profit. The elements in this project explore the contradictions and ambiguities of public and private space. Although we can identify in general with Vancouver as 'our city', as belonging to the public, space in the city is clearly delineated: either it belong to you or id doesn't. The space along Nanaimo is technically public space, and unlike the neighbouring yards, anyone can go on this space. However, in the larger scheme of things, do we feel entitled to it as a space? We're interested in drawing attention to the public nature of this space and the claims made on the city. Related to these ideas, this artwork addresses the ephemeral, shifting nature of the site, both in terms of the physical environment and cultural priorities. This area was once a vacant lot and is now a small park. We hope the work will open up a space for contemplation and reconsideration on the meaning of these transitions. This is a chance to look at the neighbourhood in another way, and by extension, the city."
Source: City of Vancouver (2008). Public Art Registry.
http://vancouver.ca/PublicArt_Net/ArtworkDetails.aspx?ArtworkID=429
Document(s):
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