Olympic public art program works unveiled
A video of female ski jumpers trying to "jump" into the Winter Olympics is one of eight art works chosen by the City of Vancouver as part of its 2010 Winter Olympics public art program.
Called Blue, the experimental film and dance documentary will feature the Canadian women's ski jumping team. It refers to a famous black-and-white photograph by the French artist Yves Klein called Leap Into The Void, which showed him jumping off a wall and flying into space.
Created by Project Rainbow -- Jesse Birch, Jade Boyd, Heidi Nutley and Sydney Vermont -- Blue is built around the idea of exploring colour through movement. For the artists, the colour blue relates to how the female ski jumpers are engaging with the city and trying to defy gravity.
The artwork also refers to an ongoing political controversy. In 2006, the International Olympic Committee rejected including women in ski jumping on the grounds they had not reached a high enough technical standard, and there were not enough qualified women in the sport worldwide.
In response, female ski jumpers have filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court seeking to be included in the 2010 Olympics, citing the Canadian Charter of Rights. A complaint has also been filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Blue will be shown on the video screen at Robson and Granville and at Strathcona Community Centre, Centre A and the Chinese Cultural Centre.
Project Rainbow's video art is part of Mapping and Marking, an $800,000 public art initiative.
It differs from other public art programs because it allows the artists to not only choose the sites but also to propose works based on their own ideas and practices.
Selected by an independent jury of professional peers, the eight artworks were chosen from 120 entries, the city's Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program announced this week.
OTHER ARTWORKS INCLUDE:
- Van East Monument will be a large-scale version of a street image that has been written in white on walls and poles in east Vancouver for decades. The crossword uses the common "a" and symbolizes the marginal identity of east Vancouverites. Artist Ken Lum hasn't yet chosen a site for the monument.
- Kingsway Luminaires will be six hand-cast white forms based on historic street lights containing LED lights that will change colour from dusk to dawn. Artist David MacWilliam chose the two medians east and west of Knight Street for the lights.
- Sensory Maps of the City of Vancouver will be maps created by artist Anna Ruth as she rides the bus around the city. The maps will be made by recording the movement of the bus in a drawing, which will be enlarged and displayed in bus shelter advertising spaces. Ruth will explore 20 bus routes, one train line and SeaBus in the course of one day. The map legends will include subjective and objective information including the bus, driver and passengers, the number of stops and the exact travel times.
- Surface will be a live documentary of the underwater life of False Creek transmitted from a camera mounted under an Aquabus to a screen on top of the boat plus other screens around False Creek. Fiona Bowie's documentary will also be on the Internet.
- Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver by Vanessa Kwan includes a sculptural kiosk and specially uniformed staff who will be handing out unique custom postcards during the Olympics.
Paul Wong's 5 and Geoffrey Farmer's Every Letter in the Alphabet were also chosen as part of Mapping and Marking.
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http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Olympic+public+program+works+unveiled/1751397/story.html
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