Tim Antoniuk, Colin Birnie and Adrien Cho, 'From Here'

Artist Background: ‘From Here’ is a 12-part aluminium sculpture hanging from the ceiling in the University LRT station. The work was designed by Tim Antoniuk, Colin Birnie and Adrien Cho, all students of the university’s Art and Design program at the time of its creation. The piece was a commission from the City of Edmonton through The Works Society Art and Design in Public Places Program that sent out a call to Art and Design students at the U of A for a public work to hang in the University station. I have featured a number of works on this blog funded through the Art and Design in Public Places Program, which has been in place since 1998. The program, an offshoot of The Works, was created with the intention to improve and re-energize downtown Edmonton through the commission of publicly and privately funded artworks to be places throughout the city. The mission of The Places is to ‘[raise] the profile and liveability of Downtown and is used as a model for other areas of the City, increasing attractiveness for business, residents, and tourists alike.’ If you are further interested in this initiative I have included the link to The Places website at the bottom of this post.

Of the three artists who created the work, the only individual who seems to have continued in art and design is Tim Antoniuk who currently works as an Associate Professor at the U of A’s department of Design Studies. At the university he focuses on industrial design and social and sustainable design. The other two artists, Colin Birnie and Adrien Cho do not appear to have continued in the art field as there is no current information about them as artists.

My  Thoughts: I have always been fascinated by art in public transit stations because I am interested with the design and placement of pieces in such busy, functional spaces. As a life-long user of public transit I appreciate the effort that goes into making stations more warm and welcoming. Your daily commute is something you often want to bypass but inviting art makes the experience a little more tolerable. This is why I was excited to learn about the initiative The Places has made towards livening up public transit stations.

In regards to the work, I enjoy the relaxing wave of the steel ribbons, which appear to float above the staircase. Unfortunately, I am not sure if I like the placement of the piece within the lower level of the University LRT terminal. The aluminium appears grey and dull in the artificial light of the underground pathway. It is easy for the work to go unnoticed because the colours do not change or alter the space in any way. The work definitely doesn’t help warm up the atmosphere of the harsh LRT tunnel. I think it would have been better if the piece had been situated above ground where the natural light could provide a shine to the metal.  

The Places webpage: http://www.theworks.ab.ca/placesfolder/vision/vision.html  

Isla Burns, 'Caravel'

Artist Background: Isla Burns was born in Calcutta, India and was raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. She moved to Canada in 1970 and studied at the ACAD and the University of Alberta. She connected with steel works early in her career as she took up welding to help pay her bills as she waited for her career to take off as an artist. She moved to Vancouver where she became the first female welder in her shop. The work required her to be very precise and to put great amounts of care into what she was creating. Burns fell in love with steel as a medium and decided to focus her artistic career on creating welded steel sculptures. She eventually moved back to Edmonton where she continues to live and work creating these welded pieces.

Caraval is an earlier work of Burns’ and appears much more simplistic than her later pieces. It was commissioned in 1991 as one of the first Percent for Art projects and its acquisition occurred at the same time as the opening of the new City Hall building. It has had to be restored over the years as water and dirt have damaged the surface of the piece. I believe the city now has a regular maintenance schedule where the work is cleaned to prevent any further erosion.  

My Thoughts: I love the delicacy of Burns’ current works so I do find this piece is missing some of the magic that I have come to recognize from her sculptures. That being said, I like the simplicity and shine of the stainless steel, especially in comparison to many of the darker, patina works around the city. The placement of the work is a little strange and I visited Churchill Square numerous times before realising there was an artwork hidden behind City Hall.

What do you think? Am I the only person who didn’t notice this artwork?