Art Stroll: Ai WeiWei and Graeham Patterson

After work last week, the weather was nice so I thought I would catch up on some art installations in downtown Toronto.

At the moment, until August, the famous, controversial Ai Wei Wei has an installation of sculptures at Nathan Philips Square. Based on the Chinese Zodiac of Animals, known mainly to North Americans as a form of fortune telling found on place mats in Chinese restaurants. Dependent upon the year you were born, you possess the similar personality traits of a particular animal.

Each of the heads are placed on poles on the exterior of the Square's large fountain.

I am a horse so I tracked down this sculpture first.

Meh. Can't say I liked the horse. (Boring...)

Ah, the Dragon was much better as was the Rooster. But maybe they were a better subject to work from.

Most were cute to say the least. Rather family friendly.

Look at the cutey wooty Rabbity wabbity. As the sculpture's are by Ai Weiwei, they have an underlining political argument. Apparently they are based upon works originally created by Jesuit missionaries in China and were later taken (i.e. stolen) by the Europeans in the 17th century during the Opium Wars. Like most contemporary art, you don't really get that story by looking at the art, but by reading an essay about the work. Nice for the summer...

...I continued my walk to Brookfield Place to see Graeham Patterson's Stockpile, an interactive artwork made as part of the Luminato festival. While I have yet to participate or attend any Luminato event, it is good that more of the events are interactive and are free to the public this year. (Personally the ticket prices have put me off most Luminato events).

Stockpile is based on popular mechanical claw arcade games.

Children and their parents were lined up to play for $2. Using what looked like an Atari joystick, the children would move a strapped human within the cage. The human would then attempt to grab a toy from the 'stockpile' using two long sticks.

It seemed that most of the children were winners, although there were some walking around with official "Loser" certificates. To quote a man from the audience, "It seems like there are better odds with this game." It was a lot of fun cheering the claw on and the children were happy with their toys!

A Tour of Luminato's Encampment

Yesterday I had the opportunity to have a look at "The Encampment," a large scale art installation at Fort York that is part of Toronto's Luminato and the Bicentennial of the War of 1812. I have never taken in any of the Luminato events, which never really appeal to me, and seem to consist mainly of dance and music.

Just taking in the website, I notice an artist I like (Dan Bergeron) was involved in an activity under the Visual Arts tab while "The Encampment" is not even listed. Very, very confusing.

The tents with the condo buildings behind. Old vs. New.

Each tent had an installation based on an individual who had lived through the 1812, whether they were a soldier, a wife, a business owner, a Native etc. Some were touching, others verged on paranoia, others promoted the successes of their subject. It was really quite neat and each artist used a variety of materials including trees, furs, furniture, burnt wood, flags - very inspiring!

I had a few friends take part and now I wish I had! Some of the installations were wonderful, while others were, well...not good....but the redeeming quality was, no one was turned away and it truly was a public art project. And with 200 tents, it was impossible to see everything without spending hours.

To learn more about the artists who conceived the project, check out here or to see some of the installations look here.

Oh and I love the blow up 1812 sign. It cracks me up. Seems wrong to have bouncy letters for a war.