SEFC: public art
SIDEWALK MEDALLIONS
The proposed sidewalk medallions explore and envision the relationship between the ecological heritage (prolific estuary, hunting and trade route for Coast Salish People) and the industrial heritage of SEFC, and the reintegration of the indigenous flora and fauna back into the landscape. A visual synthesis of ideas, the medallions offer a semi-literal, iconic chronology of the past uses of the SEFC site. Matching neighbourhood character with appropriate ecological taxonomies, an abstracted industrial icon occupies the centre core, ecological imagery surrounds the core and the outer rim employs text to locate pedestrians to the specific neighbourhood (Works Yard, Ship Yard, Rail Yard), alternating between name and a friendly sustainability axiom: tread lightly, look up, keep it
growing.
BC HYDRO VISTA LIDS – EXPLORING THE SPATIAL HISTORY OF SEFC
These large blank ʻcanvasesʼ on the ground will portray a continual narrative across the public realm of the SEFC private lands that pulls pedestrians through the site, opening their eyes to the very rich and complex histories (spatial, cultural, ecological, etc.) of the area. Of particular interest is how the shorelines of False Creek have evolved from the original undulating lines, to very hard right-angled industrial use, to the present day in which we see a balance of hard and soft angles.
THEMES
Each lid has a general theme that can be tied to aspects of sustainability, and connects three voices from different eras, specific to SEFC, Mount Pleasant and early Vancouver. Themes include: Day to night, Bird migrations, Local fares, Friendship, Curiosity, Sea, Mountains, Conservation, Lost Creeks, Simplicity, Ecological diversity.
Each lid contains four content layers: 1. base map, 2. text, 3. objects and 4. animal tracks. These were carefully selected to work together based on the common themes of each lid. Each layer, superimposed onto the base map, plays with different scales of representation. A sense of depth is created through subtle relief that differentiates these content layers.
MAPS
Each lid begins with a textured base map that includes SEFC at a unique scale, both in the physical and temporal sense. They employ conventional top-down/birds-eye projection such that each lid integrates itself perceptually into the physical space of the site. Designed to be approachable from all directions ensures that the surface art can be viewed from any orientation, and remains coherent regardless of the viewersʼ direction of approach. The maps ought to be oriented to correspond with true compass directions on each Lid. This further anchors the art within the ground of its geographic context.
TEXT
The text used in each lid contains three distinct but personal voices from three distinct eras. The first is my own, taken from spontaneous journal entries, specific to the False Creek developments and personal experiences. The second voice is of Reuben Hamilton, an early pioneer to Mount Pleasant and an obsessive historian who frequently wrote letters to Major JS Matthews – Vancouverʼs first archivist – recounting his memories of trout streams, working conditions and the impossibilities of documenting Vancouverʼs developments. The book from which the text is sourced was published by Vancouver Archives and is called: Mount Pleasant Early Days: Memories of Reuben Hamilton Pioneer 1890 (!957). The third voice is that of Pauline Johnson-Tekahionwake, daughter of Mohawk Chief, George Johnson. Pauline Johnson was notable for her poems and performances that celebrated her aboriginal heritage on the late 19th Century. The excerpts taken from her book Legends of Vancouver (1911) recount stories of Chief Joe Capilano of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish).
To reflect the more private back-lane siting of these pieces, very personal and somewhat idiosyncratic voices were intentionally selected. This could also be seen as appeal to the public art plan's recommended strategy of crossing boundaries: the use of these texts crosses the boundary from personal, private experiences to the monumentality of public art; it also crosses the boundary between the ephemerality of fleeting sentiments and the relative permanence of public sculpture.
OBJECTS AND TRACKS
The objects and animal tracks represent an archeology of SEFCʼs layered past – through relief work, the non-present makes present in physical tangible sense – addition and subtraction at life size scale. These include:
• Imprints of fossils, plants, animal tracks, human foot prints as sunken-relief, and;
• Tools and other industrial artifacts as bas-relief
The proposed sidewalk medallions explore and envision the relationship between the ecological heritage (prolific estuary, hunting and trade route for Coast Salish People) and the industrial heritage of SEFC, and the reintegration of the indigenous flora and fauna back into the landscape. A visual synthesis of ideas, the medallions offer a semi-literal, iconic chronology of the past uses of the SEFC site. Matching neighbourhood character with appropriate ecological taxonomies, an abstracted industrial icon occupies the centre core, ecological imagery surrounds the core and the outer rim employs text to locate pedestrians to the specific neighbourhood (Works Yard, Ship Yard, Rail Yard), alternating between name and a friendly sustainability axiom: tread lightly, look up, keep it
growing.
BC HYDRO VISTA LIDS – EXPLORING THE SPATIAL HISTORY OF SEFC
These large blank ʻcanvasesʼ on the ground will portray a continual narrative across the public realm of the SEFC private lands that pulls pedestrians through the site, opening their eyes to the very rich and complex histories (spatial, cultural, ecological, etc.) of the area. Of particular interest is how the shorelines of False Creek have evolved from the original undulating lines, to very hard right-angled industrial use, to the present day in which we see a balance of hard and soft angles.
THEMES
Each lid has a general theme that can be tied to aspects of sustainability, and connects three voices from different eras, specific to SEFC, Mount Pleasant and early Vancouver. Themes include: Day to night, Bird migrations, Local fares, Friendship, Curiosity, Sea, Mountains, Conservation, Lost Creeks, Simplicity, Ecological diversity.
Each lid contains four content layers: 1. base map, 2. text, 3. objects and 4. animal tracks. These were carefully selected to work together based on the common themes of each lid. Each layer, superimposed onto the base map, plays with different scales of representation. A sense of depth is created through subtle relief that differentiates these content layers.
MAPS
Each lid begins with a textured base map that includes SEFC at a unique scale, both in the physical and temporal sense. They employ conventional top-down/birds-eye projection such that each lid integrates itself perceptually into the physical space of the site. Designed to be approachable from all directions ensures that the surface art can be viewed from any orientation, and remains coherent regardless of the viewersʼ direction of approach. The maps ought to be oriented to correspond with true compass directions on each Lid. This further anchors the art within the ground of its geographic context.
TEXT
The text used in each lid contains three distinct but personal voices from three distinct eras. The first is my own, taken from spontaneous journal entries, specific to the False Creek developments and personal experiences. The second voice is of Reuben Hamilton, an early pioneer to Mount Pleasant and an obsessive historian who frequently wrote letters to Major JS Matthews – Vancouverʼs first archivist – recounting his memories of trout streams, working conditions and the impossibilities of documenting Vancouverʼs developments. The book from which the text is sourced was published by Vancouver Archives and is called: Mount Pleasant Early Days: Memories of Reuben Hamilton Pioneer 1890 (!957). The third voice is that of Pauline Johnson-Tekahionwake, daughter of Mohawk Chief, George Johnson. Pauline Johnson was notable for her poems and performances that celebrated her aboriginal heritage on the late 19th Century. The excerpts taken from her book Legends of Vancouver (1911) recount stories of Chief Joe Capilano of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish).
To reflect the more private back-lane siting of these pieces, very personal and somewhat idiosyncratic voices were intentionally selected. This could also be seen as appeal to the public art plan's recommended strategy of crossing boundaries: the use of these texts crosses the boundary from personal, private experiences to the monumentality of public art; it also crosses the boundary between the ephemerality of fleeting sentiments and the relative permanence of public sculpture.
OBJECTS AND TRACKS
The objects and animal tracks represent an archeology of SEFCʼs layered past – through relief work, the non-present makes present in physical tangible sense – addition and subtraction at life size scale. These include:
• Imprints of fossils, plants, animal tracks, human foot prints as sunken-relief, and;
• Tools and other industrial artifacts as bas-relief