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marcus_a_j

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Very interesting summary of the many public art pieces from various developments involving lights. (Click on the link to see the "wow factor", a rating out of 4-stars, as they didn't copy and paste into this text)

Leah Sandals SPECIAL TO THE STAR


Ever since the CN Tower adorned itself with colourful LEDs in 2007, more of Toronto’s public artworks have used similar technology to light up our long winter nights. The bleak streetscapes of winters past are gradually making room for glowing, shimmering, sci-fi-inspired vistas. It’s a welcome municipal antidote to Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Many of these works also stand as bright spots for the city budget, having been largely funded by private developers through our municipal Percent for Public Art program, which advocates that at least one percent of a large development’s construction cost be allocated to public art. Here are some of the brightest lights on the public art map that have emerged in recent years as a result.

The Pixel Matrix

Michael Awad and David Rokeby (2010)

Telus House, 25 York St.

This ceiling-suspended cube of 30,000 LED pixels might look like glorified icicle lights at first, but within a few seconds its morphing light animations stop Union Station-bound pedestrians in their tracks. Sometimes, it seems like a ball of energy is ricocheting inside the cube; at other times, waves of colour magically stream right through. More recognizable imagery like speeding streetcars also occasionally appear. Bonus: Telus’s waiting-area seating provides a prime position to take it all in.

Approximate cost: $650,000

Wow Factor: (out of 4)

Straight Flush

James Turrell (2009)

Bay-Adelaide Centre, 333 Bay St.

America’s Turrell is a huge name in the world of light art, with works that make insubstantial spectra seem solid while evoking spirituality. In Straight Flush (admittedly more poker-themed than pious), five tall rectangles of light morph through a 188-minute cycle; beautiful blues, greens, oranges and pinks coalesce at varying speeds, almost always to mesmerizing effect. The one downside is there’s no seating area to complement the meditative mood, which is also challenged by Bay St.’s busy buzz.

Approximate cost: $2 million

Wow factor:

Connection and Canopy

United Visual Artists (2010)

Maple Leaf Square, 15 York St.

Though smartly interactive, these installations by a UK collective are the kind of public art that one might initially overlook as decoration. Connection, installed in a glass walkway, consists of LED lights that oscillate relative to pedestrian activity, but it’s hard to distinguish when empty. Canopy is a 90-metre-long sculpture meant to mimic the dappled effect of light in a forest. Unfortunately, tunes emanating from the adjacent E11even bar make the effect more clubland than countryside.

Approximate cost: $1.8 million

Wow factor: Varies ( to )

Canoe Landing

Douglas Coupland (2009)

Cityplace, west of Spadina on Fort York Blvd.

Coupland’s Canadiana-kitsch park, with its red canoe, larger-than-life fish bobbers and ersatz beaver dam, is plenty of fun by day. But at night, stripes in six of the bobbers unexpectedly light up with intense pop colours. Admittedly, these hues seem cheesier on the beaver dam. But nighttime brings extra poignance to the small lightboxes of Terry Fox memorabilia along Coupland’s Miracle Mile running path — a fitting gesture to a hero who brought the light of hope and inspiration to many.

Approximate cost: $2.8 million

Wow factor:

Mitosis Courtyard

Pierre Poussin (2007-2010)

Cityplace Panorama, 38 Dan Leckie Way

Toronto’s Poussin first trained as a biochemist, and it shows. These two-dozen columns, with circular patterns inspired by cell division, come across a bit as orderly, phosphorescent mushrooms. The result? An unlikely sense of play and enjoyment brought to the dark underbelly of the Gardiner. Granted, litter around the courtyard means some of the underpass’s dinginess remains, but it’s a great example of how art and design could grow good vibes for this overlooked zone in the future.

Approximate cost: $500,000

Wow factor:

Palimpsest

Dianne Bos (2010)

Vu Condominiums, 112 George St.

This 26-foot-long LED-backlit photo by Calgary’s Bos has local-history links that tug at nostalgic heartstrings. The black-and-white montage, shot with a retro Lomo camera, highlights neighbourhood landmarks such as St. James Cathedral and St. Lawrence Hall, while handwritten text — pulled from a letter kept at Toronto’s oldest post office around the corner — also evokes the past. In trying to call attention to things that have been repurposed, but whose old uses are visible, Bos has created a love letter for local heritage.

Approximate cost: $40,000

Wow factor:

Harbinger and Flow Blue

Adrian Gollner (Harbinger, 2007) and Marlene Hilton Moore (Flow Blue, 2008)

The Metropolitan condominiums, 21 & 25 Carlton St.

The lights on University Ave.’s old Canada Life building change with the weather; Gollner pulls a similar trick with Harbinger, an LED beacon that changes colour in relation to wind speed on the Met’s roof. (Blue means very calm; purple means gusts of 60 kilometres per hour. Check Gollner’s website for the full spectrum.) At ground level, Hilton Moore’s larger-than-life walkway of trees and more compact tree-themed fencing (visible along Granby St.), lit with blue LEDs, also remind city-dwellers of nature. The one small drawback: When wind speeds are low, the uniform blueness can seem like branding.

Approximate cost: $125,000 (Gollner) and $350,000 (Moore)

Wow factor:

Forest Walk

Ed Pien (2010-2011)

Wellesley-Magill Park, 120 Homewood Ave.

Toronto’s Pien is renowned for large, fragile cut-paper works that silhouette human figures against spooky treetop webs. Here, fans get to see Pien apply the cutout technique to a very different material: 20-foot-long steel panels. In between, smaller panes of coloured glass — pink, yellow, blue and more — are lit up by LEDs at night. In a way, the limited lighting is appropriate, given that the piece represents a nocturnal journey (bats included) in parts. But maybe still best appreciated during the day.

Approximate cost: $550,000

Wow factor:

Honourable Mentions

Adrian Gollner’s Warm By Night

Cityplace, various sites around Spadina and Front Sts.

A lot of downtown buildings have lighting on their rooftops to attract attention to corporate logos. But at the Cityplace corridor of condos, strips of orange, green and magenta on tower tops are part of an ongoing artwork by Gollner that aims to “warm up†impersonal-seeming towers and make them more homey. Who knew?

Approximate cost: $500,000

Troika’s Drizzle and Lightning Bolt

Corus Quay, 25 Dockside Dr. (facing the waterfront)

Though this North American premiere by a vaunted UK art trio officially opened in late September, technical tweaks are still being made on its massive 35,000-LED lightning bolt sculpture and 17-metre-long outdoor light projection. The result? The works aren’t functioning properly at present. More software was loaded up this week, so fingers crossed for soon.

Approximate cost: $1.2 million

source: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/924414--city-of-lights-public-artwork-illuminates-toronto
 

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