Public Artwork
Lost Streams of Kitsilano
Alternate title:
Lost Streams
Artwork creator(s):
Penner Bancroft, Marion
Text author(s):
Penner Bancroft, Marion
Installation year:
1994
Remarks on location:
Copper map installations at Kitsilano Beach, just South of the playground; Volunteer Park at Point Grey Road; at the foot of Bayswater, and at Jericho Beach approximately 100 meters West of the concession. In-ground markers installed along the paths of four historical streams that once existed in Kitsilano
Description:
Sixteen in-ground markers and four above-ground markers are installed along the paths of four historical streams that once existed in Kitsilano. Each of the in-ground markers has the words LOST STREAM inscribed onto it, along with sets of words on two themes; first, along the edges, two-word phrases for the causes of the disappearance of the streams (e.g. “logging railway”) and second, in the centre, four kinds of animal and plant life that have disappeared (e.g. “sockeye, thimbleberry, lynx and fir”). A set of black and white photographs are installed, two for each stream path (images of trees).
Text of the artwork:
(Text imcomplete)
N
LOST STREAMS
OF
KITSILANO
MARKERS
NATIVE SETTLEMENTS
ENGLISH BAY
SKWAY’OOS
(KITSILANO BAY)
MAPLE
EE’EE’ULLMOUGH
TSUMTSAHMULS
(JERICHO BEACH)
(FOOT BY BAYWATER)
(VOLUNTEER PARK
POINT GREY ROAD)
3rd & Balaclava
5th & Stephens
6th & Bayswater
7th & Alma
6th & Cypress
12th & […]
10th & Larch
11th & Cypress
Xth & […]
Xth & […]
Xth & […]
---
LOST STREAM
land auction
chinook
strawberry
wolf
alder
---
LOST STREAM
logging railway
cutthroat
blackberry
beaver
spruce
Text theme:
Causes for the disappearance of the streams; plant and animal life that have disappeared
Artwork theme:
History of the streams of Kitsilano; earlier landscape marked by the flow of the streams
History:
The project took the artist a year to complete. Documentary version of the work presented at the Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver. Medium: 8 selenium-toned silver prints transmounted on plexiglass, conservation board, spruce frame and copper strip - each with a corresponding graphite rubbing on Strathmore paper
Note(s):
This project was the result of a long process of researching and photographing the local landscape and consultating members of the community, the Park Board and the School Board. The work consists of 16 in-ground and 4 above-ground markers installed along the paths of four historical streams that once existed in Kitsilano. Each of the in-ground markers has the words LOST STREAM engraved around the outer edge. Each marker also contains engraved words on two themes; first, along the edges, two-word phrases for the causes of the disappearance of the stream (e.g. "logging railway") and second, in the centre, four kinds of plant and animal life that have disappeared (e.g. "sockeye, thimbleberry, lynx and fir"). Artist Marion Penner Bancroft writes, "...my desire became to find a way of recalling what was now invisible, of marking the routes of the streams and in doing so, to call up an earlier image of this place, to bring some history into the present... I also installed at (Kitsilano) Community Centre a set of black and white photographs, two for each (stream) path. These are close up images of where the streams once were, paired with images of trees that are fed by the underground flows, those vestiges of another landscape."
Artist's biography:
Penner Bancroft, Marion
Propriétaire(s):
City of Vancouver Document(s):
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