Présences du littéraire dans l’espace public canadien - Metal

Terra Incognita

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:12:27 +0000

Artwork identification

Alternate title:

Earth In Disguise

Artwork creator(s):

Curry, Gwen

Artwork creator(s):

Curry, Gwen

Text author(s):

Butler Yeats, William

Text author(s):

Butler Yeats, William

Installation year:

2001

Artwork description

Source: City of Surrey (2010). Public Art. (http://www.surrey.ca/files/PubArtInsert-Series9.pdf)

Description:

Terra Incognita links the Ocean Park Library with its garden, bringing the garden inside and the library outside. The classical interior architecture of the building lends itself well to the large, clear panels inscribed with flora and fauna on either side of curving windows high above the patrons. The panels have an antiquated style much like old-world etchings with their black and white maps, hawk image and botanical drawings. On the exterior wall facing the garden, delicate script lettering above the windows reads, “Take down this book, and slowly read”.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Take down this book, and slowly read.

Text theme:

A time for thinking and resting.

Artwork theme:

The unknown, thought, literature

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

Quote from When You are Old by British poet William Butler Yeats:

WHEN you are old and gray and full of sleep
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead,
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Artist's biography:

Gwen Curry

Author's biography:

William Butler Yeats

Owner(s):

City of Surrey

Document(s):

Public Art : Terra Incognita

Angles d'incidence

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:30:53 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Cotton, Claudine

Artwork creator(s):

Cotton, Claudine

Text author(s):

Hopkins, Gerard Manley

Text author(s):

Hopkins, Gerard Manley

Installation year:

1998

Remarks on location:

Ground floor and lobby

Artwork description

Source: MCCCQ (1999). Intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement. Bilan 1998-1999. Québec: MCCCQ

Source : Photo transmited by Nathalie Villeneuve

Source: MCCCQ (1999). Intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement. Bilan 1998-1999. Québec: MCCCQ

Source : Photo transmited by Nathalie Villeneuve

Description:

The artwork consists of a sculptural installation with one part located inside the building and another part, outside.

Inside, a large white panel is installed on a black painted wall. It creates a triangle on the wall, as if the wall was being toppled over by the metallic lever installed on the floor.

The outdoor unit, which consists of a triangular metallic sculpture, is installed in continuity with the white panel.

On the ground, the lever consists of a metallic bar; its fulcrum is a bronze arm. On the black face, there are 20 small embossed trumpets and 5 embossed folded arms. On the edge of the white panel, there is a strip of cloth on which an inscription is written. In the window, two metal-framed, quartered glass circles are installed. In the upper one, there are metallic filaments; in the lower one, honey that has crystallized over time. There are also 57 embossed glass mouth shapes scattered all over the window. Lastly, on the ground, there is another glass quartered circle, this one the colour of honey, which extends all the way to the elevator

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

LE CERVEAU A SES MONTAGNES, SES FALAISES VERTIGINEUSES QUE NUL N'A JAMAIS TOTALEMENT SONDÉES

Text theme:

Committed thinking as a driving force

Artwork theme:

Enabling knowledge and the energy of committed thinking

The importance of knowing how to enable knowledge and thought processes, as tangible sources of energy

Dimensions

Height:

Width:

Other information

Note(s):

Activated by the lever, in which drops of sweat are enclosed, an imposing section of wall is toppled over and propelled outside.

On the plate:

Angles d'incidence propose la pensée engagée comme essence primordiale au
fonctionnement du lieu et lui accorde des positions stratégiques. Ainsi
cette force agissante, poétisée par la présence de "coudées franches" et de sueur de
penseurs, devient, à l'image d'un levier, capable de soulever les structures et de
les maintenir dans une position d'ouverture.
Cet exercice perpétuel qui invite à la construction et à l'audace, nous engage.

Author's biography:

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Architect(s):

Brassard, André

Document(s):

Intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement. Bilan 1998-1999

Symbols of the Cuneiforms

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:44:29 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Thomas, Lionel; Thomas, Patricia; Lachnit, F.

Artwork creator(s):

Thomas, Lionel

Thomas, Patricia

Lachnit, F.

Text author(s):

Thomas, Lionel; Thomas, Patricia; Lachnit, F.

Text author(s):

Thomas, Lionel

Thomas, Patricia

Lachnit, F.

Installation year:

1960

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Marc André Brouillette

Description:

This artwork is a delicate metal bas-relief with plexiglas inserts. The white sections light up at night.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Cuneiform writing

Text theme:

Cuneiform writing was developed in Mesopotamia

Artwork theme:

Writing

History

History:

The piece was saved during the conversion of the old library in the mid-1990s.

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Lionel Thomas

Owner(s):

City of Vancouver

Document(s):

Public Art in Vancouver. Angels Among Lions

Ayarak

Marie-Claude Langevin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:42:37 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Bourgault, Pierre

Artwork creator(s):

Bourgault, Pierre

Text author(s):

Bourgault, Pierre

Text author(s):

Bourgault, Pierre

Collaborator(s):

Bourgault, Maxime; Bourgault, Che; Riopelle, Jean-Paul

Installation year:

1999

Remarks on location:

The first sculpture is located in the lobby of the building, the second is located near the elevators.

Artwork description

Source: Saint-Jérôme (2009).Circuit d'art public de Saint-Jérôme. (http://www.d4m.com/soluss/musee/web/document/Circuit_web.pdf)

Source: Pierre Bourgault (2008). Pierre Bourgault artiste. (http://pierrebourgault.org/index.php)

Description:

Sculpture consisting of two elements reproducing on a large scale the specific motifs of an Inuit string game and of a brass inlay work installed in the floor's surface. In the Inuit language, the word "Ayarak" means string. Its two ends are tied together and used to make different figures.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Le Renard l'emporte, le suit à la trace

Ce qui ressemble à un nuage

Artwork theme:

The artwork expresses socialization, opposition, complementarity, diversity and all that binds us together.

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

The didactic panels in the waiting room aim to familiarize people passing through this location with the tradition of these string games.

Artist's biography:

Pierre Bourgault

Owner(s):

Palais de justice de Saint-Jérôme

Architect(s):

Birtz, Côté, St-Gelais, Maillé (Architects)

Anti Totem Pole

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:16:02 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Morrison, Phil

Artwork creator(s):

Morrison, Phil

Text author(s):

Morrison, Phil

Text author(s):

Morrison, Phil

Installation year:

2001

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Phil Morrison

Description:

Totem made of washer-dryers

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

the vancouver airport and the prince george art gallery are just two examples of how art and politics then I was thinking about telephone booths totem poles the truth got the dryers for nothing when joe lent me his plasma cutter some of it happened around bear lake and we must thank Jim

Text theme:

The artist’s random impressions during the creative process

Artwork theme:

Lost Native rights and culture; portrait of Native culture by white culture in BC; domination of white culture over Native culture in BC; waste; technology

Dimensions

Height:

Other information

Note(s):

•Description: Built in silent protest of the Installation of the Crest Pole at Two Rivers Gallery

•Sponsors: Jim Brinkman of Books & Co.

•Current Custodian: Books & Co.

Artist's biography:

Morrison, Phil

Owner(s):

Jim Brinkman, owner of Books & Co.

Flood of Memories

Marie-Claude Langevin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:14:36 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Anholt, Jill

Artwork creator(s):

Anholt, Jill

Text author(s):

Anholt, Jill

Text author(s):

Anholt, Jill

Installation year:

2005

Remarks on location:

At the entrance to the Museum and Discovery Centre

Artwork description

Source: City of Surrey (2008). Public Art Program. (http://www.surrey.ca)

Source: Jill Anholt Studio (2008). Projects. Flood of Memories. (http://www.jillanholt.ca/projects/flood-of-memories)

Source: City of Surrey (2008). Public Art Program. (http://www.surrey.ca)

Description:

A form reminiscent of a dyke remnant rests on the grassy plane. On one side, deposits of text and images are left on the wall, almost like watermarks from the recession of high water held back by the form in the past. The phrases and images recall multicultural and multigenerational memories from residents related to their past experiences with Surrey’s waterways. On the other side, a vibrant growing garden reveals the fertility of Surrey’s land that has resulted.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

In French, Chinese, German, Hindi, Punjabi, English

rivière = river
terre fertile = fertile land
eau salée = saltwater
inondation = flooding
construction de digue = dyke building

Text theme:

Water

Artwork theme:

Long history of the community’s dyke building efforts to control local rivers; multicultural and multigenerational memories from residents related to their past experiences with Surrey’s waterways; the fertility of Surrey’s land that has resulted from the controlled waterways.

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

• Budget: $38,000

Artist's biography:

Jill Anholt

Owner(s):

City of Surrey Public and Community Art Collection

Source:

Jill Anholt 304 – 207 West Hastings St, Vancouver BC V6B 1H7 t 604.669.0490 f 604.669.0496 jill@jillanholt.ca 2. Public & Community Art Coordinator Surrey Arts Centre 13750 - 88 Avenue Surrey, BC V3W 3L1 604-501-5561 arts@surrey.ca

Document(s):

Projects. Flood of Memories

Dyke House

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:18:00 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Holman, Shaira; Jones, Lizard; Sui, River

Artwork creator(s):

Holman, Shaira

Jones, Lizard

Sui, River

Text author(s):

The Public

Text author(s):

Public

Installation year:

1992

Remarks on location:

4 locations: 1204 Georgia, East of Vancouver; 303 8th Avenue, West front, Mount Pleasant, Vancouver; 4000 Manchester Drive, New Westminster Street; 1100 Burnaby Street, West Vancouver

Artwork description

Source: Larson, Jacqueline; Monika Kin Gagnon (1993), Out of Place, Vancouver: Association for Noncommercial Culture

Description:

This installation was placed in the back of a truck and moved to 4 different locations during the summer of 1992

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Remarks on image:

Image 1. Detail. lesbian household; Image 2. Detail. Figures ("resident") in bonded wood

Text of the artwork:

[At the beginning:]

This looks like a nice neighbourhood
Yeah, I feel safe here.

[Added, 3 days:]

I don’t think people mind that we’re together.
well, we should still be careful about kissing
in the street.

[Added, 5 days:]

I met a lesbian who lives down the block
Great! This is becoming a dike neighbourhood.

Text theme:

Homophobia, homosexuality (lesbian)

Artwork theme:

Homophobia, homosexuality (lesbian), visibility, identity and safety of homosexuals in an urban residential district.

History

History:

Exhibition Out of Place, organized by the Association for Noncommercial Culture
Exhibition from July 1, 1992 to June 30, 1993. Work described as follows:

August 4 to 11, 1992: 1204 Georgia, East Vancouver

August 12 to 19, 1992, 303, 8th Avenue, Western Front, Mount Pleasant, Vancouver

August 20 to 26, 1992: 4000 Manchester Drive, New Westminster

August 27 to September 4, 1992: 1100 Burnaby Street, West End Vancouver

Event date(s):

1994

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Jones, Lizard

Source:

Vancouver Association for Non Commercial Culture, centre d’artistes (1984-1998) (Fonds Vancouver Association for Non Commercial Culture fonds) en la possession de la Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery University of British Columbia Contact: Krisztina Laszlo , Archivist Address: University of British Columbia, 1825 Main Mall, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z2 Phone: (604) 822-0001 Fax: (604) 822-6689 EMail: klaszlok@interchange.ubc.ca 2. Shaira Holman 604-408-0118 shaira@vcn.bc.ca

Document(s):

Out of Place

As one

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:06:53 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Plensa, Jaume

Artwork creator(s):

Plensa, Jaume

Text author(s):

Plensa, Jaume

Text author(s):

Plensa, Jaume

Installation year:

2003

Remarks on location:

Inside the airport's Terminal D, international baggage claim

Artwork description

Source: Jaume Plensa (2009). As One. (http://www.jaumeplensa.com/)

Source: Hébert, Natasha (2005). Jaume Plensa: Le Sphinx catalan. Espace. no. 71, p. 36-39

Source: Jaume Plensa (2009). As One. (http://www.jaumeplensa.com/)

Description:

Neon letters welcome passengers as they wait for their luggage. From the chaos of the jumbled letters, words emerge. America, Europa, Asia, Oceania, Africa. As the harmony between the letters that compose these words is highlighted, they form a new one which opens up doors onto a new continent that has yet to exist.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

America, Europa, Asia, Oceania, Africa

Dimensions

Height:

Width:

100m

Other information

Note(s):

Plensa has captured all of the emotions, anticipation and anxiety people feel upon landing in a new country. He has strung together the words "Asia," "Africa," "Oceania," "Europa" and the "America" into one neon superword, 100 meters in length. "I feel today that all the continents are moving to become one again, as they once were," Plensa says, drawing parallels to technology's globalization of the world and the Pangaea of 200 million years ago. "So I have transformed all the 31 letters of the continents into one long word. The thing is, we don't know how to read it yet. We don't have the experience." The words will be illuminated selectively, creating both recognizable and undecipherable text. In as much as the work incorporates the familiar, there is also the unexpected, again mirroring the experience of a traveler arriving in a foreign land.

Natasha Hébert (2005). "Jaume Plensa: Le Sphinx catalan". Espace, no. 71, p.36-39

Artist's biography:

Jaume Plensa

Document(s):

Jaume Plensa: Le Sphinx catalan

Airport art

Poems for a Small Park

Marie-Claude Langevin — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:22:11 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Blodgett, E.D.

Artwork creator(s):

Blodgett, E.D.

Text author(s):

Blodgett, E.D.

Text author(s):

Blodgett, E.D.

Installation year:

2008

Remarks on location:

40 light poles

Artwork description

Source: The Places (2008). Poems. (http://www.theworks.ab.ca/placesfolder/tour/pages/16.html)

Description:

The poems are engraved in the languages spoken during Edmonton's early days - English, French, Cree, Chinese, Ukrainian and a Métis dialect.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

beginnings just appear
so like a drowsy eye
suddenly awake
where a river wells up
uncoiling from the ice
where snug beside the land
it lay dreaming at
our feet in quiet sleep

tread lightly on
the new grass
it is not ours
breathe in the air
with awe
it is the spirit’s breath

pi aku´ pi ak pa wa k´an
ki ihtamaka ta pimatisewin
nat a kam ta la riyver
ki itote maka ki kispanouhk
ekwa ka sekc´ouwahk kakiyaw diloo
ta koc´ipaik
ka kiskac´wak ki kisipanouk
le mama ochi diloo
ekota sokkan ekwa ka kiki kanatan

un seul rêve
nous habitait le corps
le long de la rivière
celui d’aller au bout
et puiser toute cette eau
de sa source
de saisir enfin
la mère des eaux
dans sa pureté primesautière

as from beads of rain
the early light glances off
the wakened river toward
the dazzled children who
wait beside the bank
their eyes frozen fountains

but where is to be found
the dream of rivers exhaled
free from winter ice
in willow tufts perhaps
or the breath of clean birds
come back pursuing the sun

late in the afternoon
deer drift toward the bank
gazing with wakeful eyes
at houses that throughout
the day start to rise
as if the wind among the leaves
the river flowing past
had strangely come to rest
no farther place to reach

but swallows so swift
trace their curves across
the sky and close to banks
happy with the eaves
they find to shelter from
the ruthless noon-day sun

as if unmoved by sun
the shy retreats of deer
and birds in high suspense
the river dreams of its
descents yet to come
and never to be known

and as we walk here
let us remember them
whose dreams created in
the depths of human flesh
never rose in flight
but stood beside these shores
reaching with longing for
the other bank that rose
forever beyond their grasp

beauty from summer falls
unnoticed through ravines
that from the river reach
deeper through the earth
where silence unadorned
rises in our hands

the leaves that now fall here
have fallen here before
anyone knew that leaves
in such infinities fall
and how the heavens exhale
their long sighs of stars

transparent in the late
light that falls across
the river slowing down
every tree becomes
the perfect dream of trees
and there divinity
close to the end of day
silence on its knees
takes up residence

the last to find sleep
in the longer nights of fall
the coyotes fill the air
with sharp cries of glee
that summon stars and moon
the river suddenly
overcome with dreams
echoes of fading song

the time of legend falls
slowly on this place
everywhere unseen
but each return of snow
the moon settling on
the river like a leaf
composed of silence and
unfathomable light
are the only tales it tells

autant de fois
que tombent les feuilles
avons-nous flâné ici
pour les contempler
telles des rêves qui
flottent en dérive vers la mer

winter falls at length
through darkness and the snow
unable to go on
unable on the still
river to return
making this the last home
all elsewhere now
the dream that is to come
unable to take shape

now let us salute
all children who
never saw the light
and all mothers whom
winter took away
and all who have stood here
their names written in
the wind that falls without
a trace across the ice

and let us turn our heart
to old trees that through
the many winters of
their lives have reached forth
to greet the passing birds
and in their branches held
the winds that went astray
beneath the frozen moon
and solitary stars

quelqu’un dans l’obscurité
murmurait adieu
tel le son
de la rivière gelée

and so the last dream
is what the river dreams
asleep beneath the ice
of its invisible
descent from glaciers
beyond sight to seas
and where at last it wakes
soundless it disappears

nothing lay so clear
before those who stood
on these banks than the great
canopy of sky
that spread above them and
poured forth its endless light
and everything it seemed
stood eternal here
all that was laid bare

et tous qui ont suivi
sont entrés dans la lumière
comme si c’étaient une mer
qui les engloutissait
une mer pleine
de grands oiseaux
qui les menaient
plus profondément
vers la source des étoiles

or the golden light
of grain heading out
in summer calls them all
and gazing into it
they see summers spread
everywhere before
them flowing through the air
generations of
the sun standing in sheaves

while over all of them
the silent river and
the grass against their feet
a star unmoving stands
beyond anyone’s grasp
this is the light that draws
them all into the dream
of what will be when they
no longer walk here

possibility
rises in the light
as if every dawn
turned departure toward
endless arrivals where
only the rising sun
holds time in its light
asleep upon our hands

Text theme:

Poems are about the North Saskatchewan River and the nearby river valley

Dimensions

Height:

15m

Width:

15m

Other information

Note(s):

Sponsoring partners Art & Design du Public Place

"I took the river as a metaphor … for moving through time," he told CBC News. "As the poems move through the seasons, they move through the elusive history of the city, the growth of the city. There's a sense of time flowing through it and flowing away."

- CBC website (2008). Poetry to be a walk in the park for Edmonton.

<http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2008/09/04/edmonton-poetry.html>

Artist's biography:

Poems for Small Park

Document(s):

Riverfront park with a view and poetry, too

Poetry to be a walk in the park for Edmonton

Poems for a Small Park

The Raven

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:33:15 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Koh, Germaine

Artwork creator(s):

Koh, Germaine

Text author(s):

Poe, Edgar Allan

Text author(s):

Poe, Edgar Allan

Installation year:

2003

Artwork description

Source: Germaine Koh (2009). GERMAINE KOH. (http://www.germainekoh.com/ma/projects_mainpage.cfm?pg=projects)

Description:

The refrain from Edgar Allan Poe's poem applied to a wind-spun metal sign repeats an eerie mantra of perpetual loss.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

NEVER MORE

Text theme:

The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe

Artwork theme:

Perpetual loss

History

History:

1. Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), Toronto, 2005

2. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV), Victoria, British Columbia, 2005

3. Yukon Art Centre, Whitehorse, 2005

4. Art Forum, Berlin 2003

5. Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF), Toronto, Ontario 2003

Dimensions

Height:

0.89m

Width:

0.46m

Other information

Note(s):

There are three copies of this work.

Artist's biography:

Germaine Koh

Author's biography:

Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore

Source:

1. Germaine Koh, artiste101 Niagara Street, Box 28, Toronto, M5V 1C3416-365-7056 website@germainekoh.commail@germainekoh.commobile +1(778)3179745Germaine Koh peut être jointe en communiquant avec la galerie qui la représente - Catriona Jeffries Gallery2. Charo NevilleAssociate CuratorCatriona Jeffries Gallery274 East 1st Ave., Vancouver V5T1A6 CanadaTél : 604-736-1554cat_jeffries_gallery@telus.net

Document(s):

Koh signage works

Still Life

Marie-Claude Langevin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:32:27 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Skelton, Carl

Artwork creator(s):

Skelton, Carl

Text author(s):

Skelton, Carl

Text author(s):

Skelton, Carl

Installation year:

2006

Remarks on location:

Public art exhibition overlooking the North side of Highway 401 between Renforth Drive and Dixie Road.

Artwork description

Source: Artstage (2008). Artstage. (http://www.artstage.ca/index.htm)

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

STILL --- LIFE

Artwork theme:

Still life, change, instability, daily life

History

History:

Art Exhibition to Artstage, Toronto, ON, 28 September 2006

STILL LIFE is intended to respond to its circumstances: long sightlines, a drive-by experience that is by and large going to be experienced many times by people who travel that road on a daily basis, albeit at very different speeds according to traffic conditions, and in very different states of mind, not to mention from a wide variety of cultural perspectives.

In the first instance, STILL LIFE is a gentle pun on the situation: a work of art where a billboard would normally be. Any number of artists have pastiched or deconstructed Billboard advertising… this is simpler, a play on the ironies of the phrase’s constituent parts, “still” and “life”.

STILL Under these viewing conditions, anything ARTSTAGE includes will be un-still: the works of art may not be “kinetic” in their construction, but they certainly must be in their public’s experience. If you only see the work from the highway, it’s effectively kinetic unless you stop the car. On the other hand, the work is hyper-still too: it is a regular reminder that no matter what else has happened since the last time you drove by, this pocket of reality is “still” what it was, unchanged at least provisionally. That characteristic, of anticipating and yet stepping out of the flux of change surrounding us, is fundamental to art’s role in both public and private spheres.

LIFE “Still life” is a simple tag line, but it has a lot of layers to play with. At one level, the aggregate of all the installations that add up to ARTSTAGE itself will be a large-scale still-life arrangement. At another, the phrase will evoke an incredible variety of specific experiences of works of art in the minds of drivers and passengers on the 401. One can almost see a cloud of memories of still life paintings forming in the minds of people as they pass, and then dispersing through all the different trains of thought down the road. As the genre most typically associated with details of daily life, and most broadly experienced as historical “ART” in mainstream culture, “still life” will be just about the exact contrary of most of the genre and associations it names… the other end of the spectrum of what a work of art can be in relation to time, space, and place.

STILL LIFE What proportion of the millions who will drive by, how many times, will the reading actually not even register as an “Art Thing”? Out of context, the simple reminder that whatever you think is all change, speed, instability… something inthe way of the world is actually not changing. In some small measure, the piece responds to Heraclitus - where his saying that “you never steptwice into the same river” describes the instability of the phenomenal world as an absolute, STILL LIFE implies something quite different. The viewing of it will unfold differently every time, for every person, from the first sight of “STILL” in the distance, to the breaking-up and re-resolving of the letters and words across the lenticular surface, to the much shorter span of time “LIFE” can be read at the other end of the viewing sequence. In some of the minds, all of the time, the question will seem to come from nowhere: what HASN’T changed since the last time you passed this way?

Source : Artstage (2008). Cark Skelton.

http://www.artstage.ca/skelton.php

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Cark Skelton

Source:

1. Carl Skelton 362 West 30th Street #1, New York, NY 10001 USA (917)601-7122 c a rl@ultratopia.com (personnel) Carl Skelton, directeur Intigrated Digital Media Institute at Polytechnic University, Brooklyn. +1-718-260-4018 cskelton@poly.edu (lieu de travail) 2. Artstage PO Box 356 Station 'A' Toronto Ontario M5W 1C2 TEL (416) 690-3622

Document(s):

Cark Skelton

Used cars

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:40:11 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Carlson, Corinne

Artwork creator(s):

Carlson, Corinne

Text author(s):

Carlson, Corinne

Text author(s):

Carlson, Corinne

Installation year:

1995

Remarks on location:

Four different sites, in the city center

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Corinne Carlson

Description:

Bright orange words spell out love song lyrics and are suspended above car lots

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Site 1:

ALL RIGHT

Site 2:

OKAY

Site 3:

YOU WIN

Site 4:

I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU

Text theme:

«Alright, Okay, you Win», popular song by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh

Artwork theme:

Declarations of love, puns

History

History:

1. Niche (public facilities, interventions and performances), Guelph, April 22-May 20, 1995

2. Off \ @ toronto site (urban intervention project), Toronto, September 25-October 31, 1998

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Carlson, Corinne

Source:

1.Pruesse, Kym, éd., Accidental Audience : Urban Interventions by Artists, Toronto : Off\Site Collective, 1999, p.80 2. Jennifer McMackon, «Corinne Carlson @ Mercer Union, Toronto». Sur le site Big, RED And Shiny. An art journal http://www.bigredandshiny.com/cgi-bin/retrieve.pl?issue=issue66&section=out-of-town&article=corinne_carlson_at_2213256 (Consulté le 30 octobre 2008).

Document(s):

Niche: installations, interventions, performances. April 22-May 20, 1995

Taking it to the Streets

Niche: Art Outside of The Gallery

Normal

Marie-Claude Langevin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:10:14 +0000

Artwork identification

Alternate title:

The New Normal

Artwork creator(s):

Yanover, Shirley

Artwork creator(s):

Yanover, Shirley

Text author(s):

Yanover, Shirley

Text author(s):

Yanover, Shirley

Remarks on location:

Installed above the entrance to the building and on the field.

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Shirley Yanover

Description:

This exhibition also featured two other parts. New Normal, an acrylic painting, was hung in the cafeteria. Normal Graduation 23 consisted of twelve oval plastic clocks that were suspended from metal chains on the chandelier in the entrance. The clocks contain the following elements: portraits from 1913-1973 repertories, newspaper cuttings of local Stratford, wallpaper evoking the era at which the portraits were taken, a copy of the New Normal painting and the logo of the Normal School.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

NORMAL -- THE NEW normal

Text theme:

Belonging and social identity

Artwork theme:

History of the place

History

History:

Normal Resonance. Gallery 96, Stratford, Ontario, July 5-September 28 2003 [commissioner: Cindy Hubert].

Event date(s):

2003

Dimensions

Height:

0.92m

Width:

0.6m

Depth:

0.6 m

Other information

Note(s):

This exhibition was held at Gallery 96, which used to be an École Normale (an academic institute to train masters) until 1973 (the "Normal School"). The text is a reference to the location.

Artist's biography:

Yanover, Shirley

Owner(s):

Collection of the artist

Source:

1. Shirley Yanover, artiste shirley.yanover@rogers.com 2. Cindy Hubert, directrice Gallery 96 Stratford, ON (519) 271-4660 info@gallery96.com gallery96@orc.ca

Duet

Marie-Claude Langevin — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:45:08 +0000

Artwork identification

Alternate title:

duet choosing the water’s edge

Artwork creator(s):

Brandl, Eva

Artwork creator(s):

Brandl, Eva

Text author(s):

Brandl, Eva

Text author(s):

Brandl, Eva

Installation year:

1987

Artwork description

Source: Eecloo, Robin, Hennie L. Wolff (1987). Sans Démarcation, Toronto : Visual Arts Ontario

Description:

The billboard is set against the Art Gallery of Algoma façade and faces the meadow where 16 panels are installed by St. Mary River.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Element II: 10/16 inscriptions on banners displayed in a field beside St. Mary River:

eaux fugitives
nocturnal waters
ophélia
eaux dormantes
eaux de sang
eaux mortes
eaux d'artifice
silent waters
eaux mouvantes

fire of illumination
fire of fate
fire of exaltation
fire of eternity

[Element III: Poem. Available only in the catalog]

The work begins with the choice of a place…

a wild growing meadow

the water’s edge

off shore

up river

Lake freighter passage

daily

down river

The Middletown

The Burns Harbour with empty holds

The Belle River with full holds

The Falkön carrying grain

fuel

coal

and various ores

…as to the destination of the cargo

coastal towns and other ports of entry

Is there anything that is not about moving

Something from one place to another?

water’s uninterrupted flow

fire’s endless consumption

during night

overture on our own endless changes

or day

to the west

six oil reservoirs painted stark white covered by the shade of trees at 7 pm

in between

sixteen markers painted while speaking of water and related tales

to the east

a night picture speaking of fire and its guardians

Text theme:

The elements (water and fire); industry, nature threatened, fuel, marine transport, cargo and consumption of natural resources

Artwork theme:

The elements (water and fire); industry, nature threatened, fuel, marine transport, cargo and consumption of natural resources

History

History:

Exhibition: Sans Démarcation, a cultural exchange project between Ontario and Quebec.

Event date(s):

1987

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

Elementa Naturae, MACM, 1987 - Installations/Fictions, 1986 - Water’s Stones, 1986

Dark rooms, artists space, New York, 1985 ; text by Valerie Smith et John G Hanharat

Shore, Off Shore, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, 1985 - Montréal, Alberta College Of Art Gallery, texte by Diana Nemiroff - 20 x 20 Italia-Canada, text by Diana Nemiroff and Renée Van Halm

Source:

Eva BrandlDepartment of Studio arts Concordia Universityevbrandl@yahoo.comVisual Arts Ontario215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 225Toronto On M5T 2C7Tél: 416.591.883 Fax: 416.591.2431info@vao.org1. Visual Arts Ontario215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 225Toronto ON M5T 2C7Tél : 416.591.8883 Fax :416.591.2432 <a href="mailto:info@vao.org">info@vao.org</a>2. Art Gallery of Algoma10 East StreetSaultSte Marie, ONP6A3C3705-949-9067<a href="http://maps.google.ca/local_url?q=http://www.artgalleryofalgoma.ca/&dq=art+gallery+of+algoma+ontario&f=q&source=s_q&output=js&hl=fr&geocode=&vps=4&jsv=155c&sll=45.479156,-73.585178&sspn=0.090273,0.149345&abauth=b2c27662:HeK2_ccwAshQEV33leXkx8FLayQ&absince=235&oi=miw&sa=X&ct=miw_link&cd=1&cad=homepage,cid:18046753650357131546&ei=1Q7ySaO7KYa8NumwlNcH&s=ANYYN7mB4VYT8dlZNNxGMvd3K759A8xZFQ" target="_blank">artgalleryofalgoma.ca</a>‎

Document(s):

Reactions to Artwork Range Wide

Outdoor artworks displayed

Art in the Soo: Sans Demarcation

Outdoor artworks displayed

Counting Crows

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:24:19 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Grant, Evelyn

Artwork creator(s):

Grant, Evelyn

Text author(s):

Grant, Evelyn

Text author(s):

Grant, Evelyn

Installation year:

2001

Artwork description

Source: 4th Street (2008). Counting Crows. (http://www.4streetcalgary.com/publicart/crows/)

Description:

Several crows sit on a weather vane. A circle with a poem is installed under the structure.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Counting Crows. Evelyn Crant 2001. Bart Haber Miller. Twelve is for joy tomorrow. Eleven is for love. Ten is for sorrow. Nine is a secret. Eight is for grief. Seven is a journey. Six is a Thief. Five is for riches. Four is a birth. Three is a wedding. Two is for mirth news. One is for bad.

Artwork theme:

Counting Crows is based on a traditional English rhyme, which was used to predict one's fortune according to the number of crows seen. The rhyme is presented in circular fashion, printed on the inlaid tile at the base of the piece. Pictorial symbols are also represented to enhance the piece: mirth (the sun, with the logo of the Coney island amusement park), happiness (the eight of hearts), gaiety (the nine of clubs), a new moon (new beginnings), and of course, the pointing fingers counting the crows.

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Evelyn Grant

Owner(s):

City of Calgary

Book Tower

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:18:57 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Johnston, Byron

Artwork creator(s):

Johnston, Byron

Text author(s):

Johnston, Byron

Text author(s):

Johnston, Byron

Installation year:

2003

Artwork description

Source: University of Lethbridge (2008). Art Gallery. (http://www.uleth.ca/artgallery/)

Description:

Column made of books

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Artwork theme:

The changing values of books, fate of books over time.

Dimensions

Height:

Other information

Note(s):

Book Tower comments on the changing values of books and what happens to these important objects over time. “As students who buy expensive texts and faculty who dedicate years to writing them, we are all aware that books can go from high financial value to occupying a recycling bin with incredible speed,” says Dr. Josephine Mills, Director/Curator, U of L Art Gallery.

Source: University of Lethbridge (2004). U of L Art Gallery. Alumi magazine, vol. 8, no.1 (spring)

http://www.uleth.ca/alumni/files/alumni_journal/Spring04_AlumniJournal.pdf

Artist's biography:

Byron Johnston

Document(s):

New Sculpture "Tower" Over Campus

Chinook

Marie-Claude Langevin — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:53:28 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Ouellet, Pascale (Bigoudi)

Artwork creator(s):

Ouellet, Pascale

Text author(s):

Ouellet, Pascale

Text author(s):

Ouellet, Pascale

Collaborator(s):

Lumid

Installation year:

2006

Artwork description

Source: Pascale Ouellet (2008). Chinook Sculpture. (http://www.bigoudi.ca/portfolio/chinook.htm)

Description:

Chinook is about 23 feet high and depicts a ribbon blowing in the wind to represent the Chinook, the prairie wind that blows out of the mountains in the winter and can warm everything up in a single day.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Le vent qui me transporte sans bouger
Celui qui fait danser les arbres
Et du silence des montagnes
Fait un grand bruit

C'est le Chinook et son arc
Qui est venu tel un ami
Réchauffer les âmes engourdies
Par la magie, la pluie et le froid

Et quand il ne peut contrôler sa puissance
Il ne faut pas lui en vouloir
Car c'est un géant maladroit
Au grand cœur immense

The wind which elates me without moving
Which makes the trees dance
And of the silence of the mountains
Make a great noise

He is the Chinook and his arc
Came as a friend
To warm up the souls numbed
By the snow, the rain and the cold

And when he cannot control his power
One should not be upset with him
Because he is a clumsy giant
With an immense heart

Text theme:

Chinook

Dimensions

Height:

Other information

Note(s):

In 2005, Bigoudi won an award from the town of Canmore to create a piece of public art. Her sculpture, Chinook, is about 23-feet high and depicts a ribbon blowing in the wind to represent the praire wind.

Artist's biography:

Pascale Ouellet

This Thing

Marie-Claude Langevin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:39:13 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Lexier, Micah

Artwork creator(s):

Lexier, Micah

Text author(s):

Jackson, A.Y.

Text author(s):

Jackson, A.Y.

Installation year:

1991

Remarks on location:

Phrase mounted on the top edge of the gallery’s roof (East side)

Artwork description

Source : Photo provided by Micah Lexier

Description:

Lettering on the edge of the roof

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

I feel this thing is of too great an importance to miss.

Text theme:

Debate in favor of the creation of the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery

Artwork theme:

Tribute to the history of the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery

History

History:

Public commission (Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound). Acquired in Spring 1991. Permanent installation at the site since. Part of the permanent collection of the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound.

Dimensions

Width:

12.2m

Other information

Note(s):

The text is a quote from A.Y. Jackson, from a local Owen Sound newspaper published in 1953. The article presented the debate in favour of the creation of the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery. Jackson's words refer to the importance that this institution would have.

One of the gallery’s signature pieces, the work remains installed on the roof of the building, is in good condition and continually garners response.

Nov 6, 1953: John Corfe wrote an article in the Sun Times about A.Y. Jackson who was in Owen Sound to open the new Gallery of Fine Arts and who gave a speech to the Owen Sound and District Artists’ Association. John Corfe also wrote of the hope to fulfil the dream of building the Tom Thomson Memorial Gallery in Owen Sound.

Artist's biography:

Micah Lexier

Owner(s):

Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery

Source:

1. Micah Lexier 464 W23rd St. Apt.#5F New York, NY USA 10011 Phone (212) 243-4028, Fax (212) 243-4032 mail@micahlexier.com 2. Rachel Monckton Collections Manager 519-376-1932 x 228 rmonckton@e-owensound.com Tom Thomson Art Gallery 840 First Avenue West Owen Sound ON Canada n4k 4k4 www.tomthomson.org

Document(s):

A Project for Surrey and Other Site-Specific Works

Glimmer

Marie-Claude Langevin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:17:37 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Belcourt Salem, Jocelyne

Artwork creator(s):

Belcourt Salem, Jocelyne

Text author(s):

Belcourt Salem, Jocelyne

Text author(s):

Belcourt Salem, Jocelyne

Installation year:

2000

Remarks on location:

1444 Dupont Street, Unit 11A, Toronto, Ontario, M6P 4H3

Artwork description

Source: Photo provided by Jocelyne Belcourt Salem

Description:

80 stainless steel plates, screwed onto the trees

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

Sugar Maple

Red Maple

Yellow Birch

White Ash

White Pine

Red Oak

Balsam Fir

Eastern Hemlock

American Beech

Trembling Aspen

White Oak

Juniper

Black Spruce

Black Ash

Silver Maple

White Cedar

Tamarack

Speckled Alder

Striped Maple

Beaked Hazel

Service Berry

Trillium

Trout Lily

Maidenhair Fern

Christmas Fern

Baneberries

Virginia Sweet Fern

Staghorn Sumac

Sheep Sorrel

Saxifrage

Red Osier Dogwood

Bunch Berry

Yellow-throated Vireo

Cerulean Warbler

Black Crowned Night Heron

Eastern Fox Snake

Black Bear

Fisher

Raccoon

Red Fox

Skunk

Coyote

Weasel

White Tailed Deer

Pheasant

Gray Jay

Sharp Tailed Grouse

Bobwhite Quail

Black-backed Wood Pecker

Bay-breasted Warbler

Red Shouldered Hawk

Beaver

Map Turtle

Black Squirrel

Grey Fox

Chipmunk

Rabbit

Snapping Turtle

Duck

Muskrat

Bullfrogs

Moose

Common Raven

Lt.J.P.Catty,R.E., 1819

Explorer

Lt.Henry Briscoe, R.E., 1826

Explorer

Ensign Durnford, R.E., 1826

Surveyor

Alexander Shirreff, 1829

Surveyor

Lt. J.Carthew,R.N.

and

Lt. F.H Baddeley, R.E.

Surveyors, 1835

David Thompson, 1837

Owner

William Tinguey, 1870

Owner

Walter Tinguey, 1920

Owner

Salvation Army, 1950s

Loggers

Hatherley and Nephew

Owners

Lubovitch Community, 1989

Owners

Mentor College, 1997

Current Owner

Text theme:

Disappearing local species, flora and fauna, local history and identity

Artwork theme:

Disappearing local species, flora and fauna, local history and identity.

History

History:

The Tree Museum, Gravenhurst, since summer 2000

Dimensions

Other information

Note(s):

"The work is permanent - and intended to be as long as the trees remain. Proper arboreal practice was used to affix the plates -using only stainless steel hardware in contact with the trees… The plates are drilled in the 4 corners and screwed to the tree with stainless steel screws and spaced from the bark with stainless steel springs to allow for growth."

Source: Jocelyne Belcourt Salem. Conversation with the artist, March-April 2008

Artist's biography:

Jocelyn Belcourt Salem. Glimmer

Source:

«Jocelyn Belcourt Salem. Glimmer». Sur le site The Tree Museum. http://www.thetreemuseum.ca/treemuseum/pages/ind_artist.php?RECORD_KEY%28artist_list%29=id&id(artist_list)=22 (consulté le 12 mars 2008).

Document(s):

Jocelyn Belcourt Salem. Glimmer

The Tree Museum 2000. Site specific installations 24 October to October 30, 2000

Volatiles

Marie-Claude Langevin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:33:22 +0000

Artwork identification

Artwork creator(s):

Goulet, Rose-Marie E.

Artwork creator(s):

Goulet, Rose-Marie E.

Text author(s):

Goulet, Rose-Marie E.

Text author(s):

Goulet, Rose-Marie E.

Installation year:

1997

Remarks on location:

Above the water basin

Artwork description

Source: Goulet, Rose-Marie E. (2005). Projets, archives et documents. Montréal: Centre de diffusion 3D

Description:

The artwork consists of word structures hanging above the water basin. These colourful structures feature cut-outs. The words appear to form birds.

Mention(s) légale(s) des illustrations:

Photo credits:

Text of the artwork:

The words are borrowed from the taxonomy of waterfowl.

Artwork theme:

Wildlife

Dimensions

Other information

Artist's biography:

Rose-Marie E. Goulet

Document(s):

Projets, archives et documents