Ray McAdam, 'Passengers'

Artist Info: Ray McAdam is an active artist and art instructor in Edmonton. He received his Bachelors in Design at the University of Alberta and has taught design courses at the university since his graduation. He also works at Grin Design House where he receives contracts for visual media such as posters or advertisements. According to his bio on the Grin webpage, he specializes in CAD 3-D modelling which he uses to create sculptures out of metal, plastic and wood. He also enjoys using his design background to renovate buildings within the city.

'Passengers' was created in 2009 as a Percent for Art commission at the South Campus LRT station. The work consists of clear, plastic bird silhouettes flying under the roof of the LRT station. The birds also contain LED lights so they can be lit when the station is dark. According to the Edmonton Arts Council report, shortly after the sculpture was installed a few of the birds became damaged and fell down from the ceiling. The entire sculpture was removed and the birds re-secured. It was re-installed in the summer of 2011. 


My Thoughts: I had never noticed this sculpture in-person before but had seen information about it online wanted to feature it on the blog. I am usually very drawn to birds in art so I headed to the LRT station expecting to be attracted to this work. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with the sculpture. I thought the shapes didn't like birds at all! The silhouette I had been looking forward to seeing reminded me more of a manta ray than a bird. I believe this simplified shape was an attempt on behalf of the artist to get away from the typical bird silhouette used in glass transit stations to frighten away actual birds. Still, I thought a lot of the magic was lost because the shapes did not look like birds. Perhaps if I had seen the work with the LED lights on I would have had a different reaction, but overall I left feeling a little disappointed.

I also wanted to include images of the actual bird-scaring devices at this LRT station so you can see how the objects work together. (shown below) Even though I was disappointed with McAdams birds, I still enjoyed the bird theme going on at the station. Both the sculpture and the functional balls help to make the station seem a little less urban and tie in with the U of A experimental farm visible from the station. 

What do you think? Am I being too hard on the birds? Do they look different when they are lit? Maybe it was because I had gone to the station with a pre-concieved idea of what I was going to experience.