AN APPRECIATION OF ECLECTIC ARTWORKS OF EAST VILLAGE
From installations to architecture, Richard White explores cultural riches.
It seems every time I stroll through East Village, I find new artwork. Sometimes I find it in the oddest places — underpasses, public washrooms, retaining walls and hoarding. What is hoarding art, you ask? It is the plywood boards put up around construction sites.
Recently, I found myself in East Village and decided to check out the progress on the new Central Library, a work of art in itself. Usually I view the site from a distance, but wanting to get a better look at the unique facade, I wandered to the temporary sidewalk next to the hoarding. It was only then I discovered the hoarding was, in fact, an art exhibition. I loved the duality of the narrative of the images — urban and environment, Calgary past and present, and birth and nurturing. It seemed so appropriate and clever for East Village, given its brand as “Calgary’s oldest new community” and the amazing rebirth of the community.
Once home, I quickly went online for more information. It was installed in September 2016 and is the work of Kai and Ricole Cabodyna. In addition, I discovered this is the second hoarding show at the new library construction site. I obviously need to get out more. While I applaud the idea, I doubt many people see the hoarding art exhibitions, as most are walking along the sidewalk on the other side of the street.
Lesson learned: it pays to walk on the sidewalk less travelled.
TEMPORARY STREET ART
Public art has been an integral part of transforming East Village into a fun, pedestrian-friendly environment since Day 1. The inaugural street art project was by Calgary artist Derek Besant, titled I Am the River, in 2010, consisting of 13 larger-than-life portrait photos of Calgarians floating underwater at six sites along the newly opened Riverwalk including the shiny new public washrooms. The installation was bit of shock for many as the floating heads and naked upper body portraits had a haunting ambiguity — were they dead, alive or just a dream?
Today, you will find a series of paintings along Riverwalk by Curtis Van Charles Sorensen titled Window to the Wild. It consists of flowers, leaves and animals indigenous to southern Alberta and the Bow River. It is too decorative for my tastes, but I am sure there are some who love it.
PERMANENT PUBLIC ART
Calgary artist Ron Moppett’s colourful, 110-foot-long mural SAMEWAYBETTER/READER incorporates 956,321 tiny glass tiles manufactured in Munich, Germany. The mosaic mural tells the story of Calgary’s evolution as a city in seven panels using different styles from black and white etching to playful Matisse-like cut-outs. It is easy for pedestrians to miss it as it is tucked away on the 4th Street S.E. retaining wall of the 5th Avenue S.E. flyover.
London, England’s Julian Opie’s computerized LEDanimated art showcases faceless cartoon figures walking in circles around what looks like a mini downtown Calgary office tower. It is located on a hill above the 4th Street S.E. sidewalk next to the 5th Street flyover, making it more visible to drivers than pedestrians. And yes, the artist’s message is “it represents urban cities where people endlessly pass by oblivious to each other.” A strange choice of location and statement given East Village is being designed as a friendly, people-oriented urban village aimed at becoming an urban meeting place for people of diverse ages and backgrounds.
The Paper Plane sculpture, just west of the Simmons building on Riverwalk, is by the Light and Soul artists’ collective — Kai Cabunoc-Boettcher, Daniel J. Kirk and Ivan Ostapenko. The metaphor is obvious — the eastfacing paper plane is still in the grasp of a human hand but ready to take flight, just like the development of East Village.
Bloom, by Michel de Broin, uses vintage street lights to create what looks like a seven-storey industrial flower by day and a constellation by night. Unveiled in August 2015, it soon became a hit with Calgarians and home for a local pair of osprey.
Lesson learned: when it comes to art, you can never make everyone happy.
ARCHITECTURE AS ART
Look beyond the obvious and you will discover many of East Village’s new constructions — National Music Centre, Central Library, George C. King Bridge and the Tool Shed — are artworks in their own right.
The ominous-looking, oddshaped National Music Centre with its multi-faceted, reflective facade sometime appears to be black, other times silver, brown or bronze. Its has a sculptural shape that reminds me of a Henry Moore reclining nude.
The new Central Library, definitely a work of art, is destined to become one of Calgary’s signature buildings and enhance our image as a design city internationally. I love the funky, house-shaped, honeycomb-like skin of the building.
The George C. King Bridge (pedestrian/cycling) should also be considered a work of art. From the beginning it was nicknamed the Skipping Stone bridge, with its first arches mimicking a stone skipping over the Bow River. The design has a transparency that draws the eye to the majestic Bow River without competing with it. It has a bucolic beauty I admire, and it is the polar opposite of the bold Peace Bridge a kilometre west.
And then there is the East Village Tool Shed! What, you ask, is the tool shed? It is the rusted metal structure that is part of the lavish community garden, children’s playground along 6th Street at 7th Avenue S.E. As the name implies, it is where the gardeners’ tools and other equipment for programming is stored. The sculptural shed is made of shipping containers with a lovely honeycomb archway in the middle. The rusted metal gives this artwork an appropriate earthy look.
LAST WORD
For most of the 20th century, Calgary was seen as a frontier town lacking in any noteworthy architecture, public art or public spaces. That is simply no longer true.
East Village is Calgary’s multi-billion dollar artwork. It is the benchmark for new communities in Calgary — inner city or on the edge.
The east-facing paper plane is still in the grasp of a human hand but ready to take flight, just like the development of East Village.