Spectacles, Biennales and the Winter Olympics

Last weekend I flew home to Vancouver to attend the Sight/Sites of Spectacle symposium at the University of British Columbia. As I had not gone home to visit my parents for almost three years - this trip was a good opportunity to visit with my parents; try to see a few friends and artists; re-immerse myself in the world of art history for a few days and to feel the anticipation of the city on the eve of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

I was just starting my BA in Art History at the University of Calgary when Calgary hosted the '88 Winter Olympics. It was an exciting time, especially as the University was the site of the Athletes Village and home of the new speed-skating oval. We entered the ticket lottery and managed to get tickets to the Opening Ceremonies and most nights we met friends downtown to watch and be part of the award ceremonies. It is an experience I will never forget.

I was living in Vancouver when I voted "yes" on the referendum to support the bid for the Olympic Games and remember watching CTV's Lloyd Robertson report from outside the Vancouver Convention Centre when Vancouver won the bid. I am aware of the tremendous cost associated with hosting the Olympic Games, the unfairness and inequity that is associated with this and the many ways that this money could be better used to further the needs of the City of Vancouver and its diverse population. However, there is a part of me that "Believes!" That wants to see our athletes have a chance to compete against the world. That wants to see our athletes fulfill their dreams and to hopefully inspire others to dream as well.

Children's lanterns (installation detail), LunarFest, 2010
700 Block Granville St
Vancouver, BC

As I waited for the bus to take me to UBC the first morning of the conference, I walked between Granville and Burrard along Georgia St. I could sense the feeling of anticipation and excitement as tourists and residents took photographs of the various lanterns and sculptures that are part of LunarFest on Granville Street or posed in front of the large Olympic advertising banners draped from office towers. Official Olympic vehicles were scurrying back and forth and volunteers dressed in their official turquoise uniforms clutched their various manuals instructing them on what to do, how to behave, etc.

Team Canada Banner
Royal Bank, Burrard & Georgia
Vancouver, BC

While the Winter Olympics is by far the most prominent Vancouver spectacle or event, this year also celebrates the second Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale. Buschlen Mowatt Gallery can be credited with organizing the first public exhibition of contemporary sculpture along English Bay in 1998. However, it was 2005 - 2007 that Open Spaces the Inaugural Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale brought the work of twenty-two international contemporary sculptors to the attention of the Vancouver audience.

I remember sitting in a meeting in 2002 with representatives from various Vancouver arts institutions and organizations discussing and planning the first biennale. I remember how difficult it was to secure sights to place the work, how reluctant certain developers were to embrace the project. So, I was delighted to see that Barrie Mowatt, his staff at Buschlen Mowatt and the staff and volunteers of the Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale were able to once again provide an opportunity for the public to engage with and encounter contemporary public art.

As I only had a few days in Vancouver and lots of things I needed and wanted to do, I had to be strategic if I wanted to see all twenty-seven sculptures listed on the Biennale website. Unfortunately, I could not find any way to actually print off the list or a map that had all the information in one place, so I improvised. (My Mom emailed the Biennale office while I was in Vancouver and they are working on some sort of brochure / map that should be available shortly).

Yue Minjun (China), A-maze-ing Laughter
Patinated Bronze
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Morton Park, Vancouver, BC

My parents had already become quite taken with Yue Minjun's A-maze-ing Laughter at Morton Triangle near the corner of Davie and Denman, so it was not too difficult to convince them to join me for a day of sculpture hunting. Naturally A-maze-ing Laughter was our first stop. Quoting my Mom, Yue Minjun's work "... just wants to make you smile. You feel happy looking at them." As I got out of the car a Mother was watching her two kids run around the sculptures as they laughed, looked and engaged. They were having fun and they were looking at art. Yue Minjun has risen to prominence over the past ten years and is known for his laughing self-portraits.

Yue Minjun (China), A-maze-ing Laughter (detail)
Patinated Bronze
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Morton Park, Vancouver, BC

It had started to rain, so as we carried along Beach Avenue my Dad pulled into the Sunset Beach parking lot, where they waited as I got out of the car to examine Dennis Oppenheim's Engagement, Bernar Venet's 217.5 Arc x 13 and Jaume Plensa's We. It has been five years now since I left Vancouver, but one would think that I would have remembered that you DO NOT wear heels as you are trying to walk up a grassy hill after a week of rain!

Dennis Oppenheim (USA), Engagement
Painted aluminum, steel, plexi-glass
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Sunset Beach Park, Vancouver, BC

I liked the simplicity and monumentality of Oppenheim's Engagement and loved how he re-interpreted the traditional diamond with a tilted plexiglass house. Was he commenting on notion of love as the foundation of marriage, or the precariousness of which we balance competing and merging demands, interests, needs and wants? I would have loved to see this work glistening against a brilliant blue sky, however, against the grey backdrop of a light rain it seemed more real, still hopeful but less idealistic.

Bernar Venet (France), 217.5 Arc x 13
Corten Steel
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Sunset Beach Park, Vancouver, BC

Rather than sliding back down the hill, I took the sidewalk, cutting through the parking lot once again and down to the waterfront where Venet's 217.5 Arc x 13. I wrote about Venet's work when I saw it in Venice this past summer. Situated here on the beach his work looked so much smaller, but also more loaded with meaning. Could it be a ship-wrecked boat, the ribs of a beached whale, or .....? I loved how it framed the park, English Bay and False Creek depending on where you stood. No matter what - 217.5 Arc x 13 looked like it was at home.

Jaume Plensa (Spain), We (detail)
Aluminum
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Sunset Beach Park, Vancouver, BC

As I ventured a bit further east along the Seawall I spotted Plensa's We. One of the things that always strikes me when I go back to Vancouver is that people are out walking in the rain and they are friendly. Rarely does anyone strike up a casual conversation when I am walking around Toronto, but in Vancouver they do. As I was making my way towards We, this guy asked me what I was taking photos of, I told him I was in Vancouver for a few days and interested in the Sculpture Biennale. He told me that We is one of his favorite works and that I really need to come by and see it at night. The work is meant to represent the cultural and linguistic diversity of the human race, but as my new acquaintance pointed out - while it includes characters from eight alphabets it does not include the Armenian alphabet.

Jaume Plensa (Spain), We (detail)
Aluminum
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Sunset Beach Park, Vancouver, BC

I took his advice and returned to see We at night. Plensa's work is one of my favorites as well. I like how the androgynous and faceless human form is open to interpretation. The work is harmonious, still, and comforting. It left me with a sense of calm and hope for our troubled world.

Jun Ren (China), Freezing Water #7
Stainless Steel
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Vanier Park, Vancouver, BC

We made our way over to Vanier Park, across the Burrard St Bridge and behind the Museum of Vancouver to see Jun Ren's Freezing Water #7. This work was fluid, floating and amorphic, like liquid mercury, or flowing water caught and frozen in time.

Michael Zheng (China/ USA), The Stop
Aluminum, Steel, Paint
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Vanier Park, Vancouver, BC

Hidden between the pond and the museum building was Michael Zheng's The Stop. This series of ten stop signs set in the middle of a park was totally out of context, making one think of the meaning and symbolism of the signs and messages we confront in our daily lives. In this context these stop signs that typically signify power, law and rules became colourful, sculptural and almost playful.

Michael Zheng (China/ USA), The Stop
Aluminum, Steel, Paint
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Vanier Park, Vancouver, BC

We made our way towards Kitsilano Beach where we hoped to find Michel Goulet's Echoes, however, despite an nice walk along the beach, Echoes was not to be found. (Upon consulting the Biennale website I discovered that this work is pending installation.)

Sudarshan Shetty (India), History of Loss
Plexiglass, aluminum, steel
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
King Edward Station, Vancouver, BC

I was tasked with making sure that I had the most efficient and logical route planned, however, this is where things started going a bit off track and the sculpture hunting began. Our next stop was to be Sudarshan Shetty's History of Loss. On my list I wrote down King Edward Station. I have not been to Vancouver since the new Canada Line was installed, my Dad does not take transit, and neither of our GPS systems identified transit stations. Despite this we quickly found History of Loss.

Sudarshan Shetty (India), History of Loss (detail)
Plexiglass, aluminu, steel
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
King Edward Station, Vancouver, BC

Shetty created an installation consisting of forty-two scaled cast aluminum replica Volkswagen Beetles which were encased in a plexiglass display unit. The artist deliberately dropped each car from a distance about 300 feet so that it was damaged as if crashed in a unique event and placed in a display case with a date, which could represent the supposed crashes, but in actuality represented the how many days the artist had to complete the project. This work draws attention to the environmental damage associated with the combustion engine by placing each miniature car in a coffin like display case where it is viewed as a relic or museum object.

I liked this piece and found it interesting that it was placed adjacent to a transit station, further enforcing our need to consider alternative transportation as a viable option. While at first I was somewhat disturbed by the building condensation within the plexiglass cavities, after looking at and thinking about the work I found it added another layer to the message inherent in the work.

Our next stop was Queen Elizabeth Park where for some reason I was convinced that Fletcher Benton's Donut #7 was to be installed. Donut #7 was not to be found. I later discovered that it was hidden within the publicly inaccessible Cressey Olympic Village Park.

Living Sculpture
VanDusen Botanical Gardens
Vancouver, BC

As we drove into the parking lot of VanDusen Botanical Gardens we were greeted by this whimsical living sculpture that was not part of the Biennale. We were looking for Sophie Ryder's Minotaur and Hare. I inquired at the admission desk and was told that it was inside the garden near the Maze, and that it was no longer the Minotaur and Hare, as someone had stolen the Hare! Not wanting to keep my parents waiting, I decided to leave this for now and possibly go see it on my way to the airport on Sunday.

When I relayed this information to my parents my Mom told me that I could probably see it if I looked over the fence. So, I got out of the car and peered over the fence, but nothing! I was about to get back in the car and my Dad pointed to an open service gate and suggested that I poke my head in to see if I could see it. Now my parents have always instilled a strong sense of right and wrong, honesty and obedience in their children. I tentatively stepped through the gate and walked into the garden. My heart was racing. I was sure I was going to get caught. I had visions of security guards interrogating me in some dark room. I felt guilty and then thought what would happen if the gate closed and I would have to exit through the front and admit to the nice woman at the desk that I was trespassing. I quickly fled without seeing the Minotour.

I was convinced that I had read that Magdalena Abakanowicz's Walking Figures were somewhere in the vicinity of English Bay / Sunset Beach and that we had missed them. I remembered seeing her Puellae(Girls) in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. So, I asked my Dad if we could head back in that direction where we drove aimlessly up and down the streets between English Bay and Davie Street trying to find this work. I could sense that my Dad was getting a bit frustrated with me, so suggested we head towards Robson and Jarvis to see John Clement's Jasper instead.

John Clement (USA), Jasper
Painted tubular Steel
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Robson Street & Jervis, Vancouver, BC

The West End is a neighbourhood of one way streets and dead ends. This was fine when I used to walk through the area, but when your parents are obliging your desire to spend the day viewing sculpture, I quickly discovered that my walking routes are not quite as easy to navigate in a car. So, I put Jasper on hold (we ended up finding it on the way to the airport a few days later) and we headed down Denman Street and towards Coal Harbour where Sorel Etrog's The King and Queen, Liu Jianhua's Pillows and Choi Tae Hoon's Skin of Time were installed.

Liz Magor, Light Shed
Coal Harbour
Vancouver, BC

The Coal Harbour Seawall used to be one of my favorite dog walking routes. So, it was nice to be back, although my favorite four-legged friend was not with me on this trip. Before checking out the official Biennale works, I made a quick stop to visit an old familiar friend Liz Magor's Light Shed.

Sorel Etrog (Canada) The King and Queen
Painted Steel
Vancouver Inernational Sculpture Biennale
Harbour Green Park, Vancouver, BC

Looking like giant chess figures reigning over Harbour Green Park, Etrog's The King and Queen reference the complex relationship between man and machinery.

Sorel Etrog (Canada) The King and Queen
Painted Steel
Vancouver Inernational Sculpture Biennale
Harbour Green Park, Vancouver, BC

In contrast to the industrial mechanical feel of Etrog's work, Lie Jianhua's Pillows appeared soft, fluffy and casually strewn among the grassy field. As I walked along the seawall towards this work, I overheard a couple walking behind me state. "What is that?" she said. "It is art!" he replied. "I hope we are not paying for it .... It looks like fertilizer bags. It is disgusting, ugly ...." she retorted as they passed by. She commented on the fact that I was actually taking photographs, but I did not catch the remainder of their conversation.

Jianhua Liu (China), Pillows
Painted fiberglass
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Harbour Green Park, Vancovuer, BC

Good art engages us. We may not immediately, or sometimes may never like it or appreciate it, but it should cause us to think. Pillows does just that. There was something beautiful, innocent and sublime about these white fiberglass pillows nestled in the grass. Were they drying after a day of laundry, or waiting for someone to rest their head to read, dream or watch the clouds in the sky? On the other hand there was something surreal about these personal domestic objects sitting unadorned, almost naked in a public park.

Jianhua Liu (China), Pillows (detail)
Painted fiberglass
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Harbour Green Park, Vancovuer, BC

I walked up the stairs to look down on Pillows and discovered Choi Tae Hoon's Skin of Time. The messages, marks and symbols that Hoon has embedded in the fallen steel mesh tree are meant to be seen in the dark, however, there was something haunting and compelling in viewing this tree sitting alone amongst the condo towers of Coal Harbour.

Choi Tae Hoon (Korea), Skin of Time
Steel mesh, LED, digital media
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Harbour Green Park, Vancouver, BC

As we headed home we detoured through Yaletown to check out Joe Sola's Joe Sola is Making Art at Yaletown Station. I wondered what the individuals hurrying into the station thought of this large new media work hanging like a flickering poster or billboard. Did they wonder who Joe Sola is and why he is making art? Did they even notice it? Or think of it as art?

Joe Sola (USA), Joe Sola is Making Art
Flourescent light box, inscription and interactive digital media
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Yaletown Canada-Line Station, Vancouver, BC

The next morning as I headed to UBC I stopped at the corner of Georgia and Granville to see Zhan Wang's Artificial Rock #143. It was if a large meteorite had landed on this busy downtown corner. Wang's reflective stainless steel rock references the the rockeries that were traditionally placed in front of important buildings symbolically depicting mountainscapes, connecting man to nature.

Zhang Wang (China), Artificial Rock #143
Stainless Steel
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Vancouver City Centre Canada-Line Station, Vancouver, BC

I was now obsessed with seeing the rest of the sculptures, so on my last day in Vancouver we left early for the airport in an attempt to see the remainder. However, preparation for the Olympics was heating up, so I knew that some sites would no longer be accessible. We headed back to Coal Harbour where we had missed Wang Shugang's Meeting in Cardero Park. Nestled beside the Bayshore Hotel, the park was covered with official Olympic blue scrim-like fencing. I was not to be deterred that easily and jumped out of the car to investigate. I casually walked through the Olympic gate / barricade and even acknowledged the guards on duty. However, the actual park where Meeting was installed was fenced off with wire fencing. While I tried to photograph this work that was originally exhibited during the 2007 G-8 summit meeting in Germany, the guards left and closed the gate behind them. I snapped a few quick photos, and then spotted a path leading to the entrance to the Bayshore Hotel allowing me to escape.

Wang Shugang (China), Meeting (partial installation view)
Painted Bronze
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Cardero Park, Vancouver, BC

Back in the car we headed towards Richmond and the airport. I was going to have to live without seeing Yvonne Domenge's Olas de Viento (Wind Waves) as we did not have time to drive out to Steveston, however, I was really interested in seeing the Gao Brothers' Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin's Head. This work had been raising considerable controversy and was the subject of much media and public attention.

Gao Brothers (China), Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin's Head
Polished Stainless Steel
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
Elmbridge & Alderbridge Way, Richmond, BC

Over at Lansdowne Station Javier Marin's monumental Cabeza Vainilla, Cabeza Cordoba and Cabeza Chiapas were still being installed. These gigantic heads symbolize strength, dignity and history and while constructed of polyester resin, look as if fashioned from terracotta.

Javier Marin (Mexico), Cabeza Vainilla, Cabeza Cordoba, Cabeza Chiapas (detail)
Polyester resin and iron
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
#3 Road & Lansdowne Station, Richmond, BC

Dennis Oppenheim's Arriving Home was designed to greet travelers to the International Arrivals Terminal at the Vancouver International Airport. The circular form represents motion, travel and continuity. This seemed like the perfect work to end my sculptural journey as I was leaving Vancouver, the city I still think of as home and going home to Toronto to be with my husband and little toy poodle.

Dennis Oppenheim (USA), Arriving Home
Plexiglass, steel
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale
YVR - International Arrivals Terminal, Richmond, BC