Canada Line | Completed

[mr.x]

OV Openbaar Vervoer
OV Overflow
OV OpenView (Hewlett Packard)
OV Orbiter Vehicle
OV Estonian Air (IATA airline code)
OV Output Voltage
OV Overvoltage
OV Osservatorio Vesuviano
OV Operational View
OV Office Visit
OV Oy Vey
OV Office Vision
OV Official Veterinarian (UK)
OV Optimum Voice
OV Orbital Verification (Hubble Telescope)
OV Orchestra Victoria (South Melbourne, Australia)
OV Orbiting Vehicle
OV Operational Value
OV Official Visitor
OV Overstays (immigration)
OV Overseas National Airways
OV Outlet Velocity
OV Organizational Value
OV Observation Vehicle
OV Ocean Venture
OV Observatory Verification
OV Onbepaald Verband (Dutch)
OV Olympic Village

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

Acronyms are difficult! Especially when only one name can fit it.

Can people actually sit on the bench?

You could do a lot more than sit on the bench. I'm surprised this wasn't posted here....

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/09/22/bc-canada-line-bench.html

Sculpture gouged by skateboarders
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 |

This Canada Line artwork called The Bench has been put to an unanticipated use by skateboarders. (Submitted by Marie Khouri)

A sculpture that doubles as a bench outside one of Vancouver's new Canada Line rapid transit stations has been put to another use that has put deep gashes and scars on what was a pristine work of art a few weeks ago.

Stay classy, Vancouver!

[Metro-One]

Again, No.........Civic...........Respect! This is why we can not have nice things! I am surprised they didn't spray paint the station house as well.

[mr.x]

a huge WTF.

[Yume-sama]

Oh, ouch. That really sucks.

Score another one for Western culture

And somehow CBC comments are not outraged by this. They're so hard to figure out, everything outrages these people.

[ryanmaccdn]

at the same time, when doing public works displays the designer needs to understand the location in which the work will be displayed and also the durability/vandalism aspects......

Don't get me wrong.... I hate public vandalism but if this happens only after a few weeks , WTF.

[teriyaki]

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

at the same time, when doing public works displays the designer needs to understand the location in which the work will be displayed and also the durability/vandalism aspects......

Don't get me wrong.... I hate public vandalism but if this happens only after a few weeks , WTF.

I took one look at that thing and I already knew it was going to be super enticing for skateboarders. Whoever approved of this was pretty clueless. I'm not condoning the use of it by skateboarders etc, its just with a shape like that in an area like that was not a good combination and should have been red-flagged.

[deasine]

If I didn't know, I thought the "scars" were part of the art...

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by GoogalieBear

Yeah, it's at King Edward, I saw it. I thought it was nice, it served to block the view of cars parked at the parking lot. Wish it was longer though, it didn't covered the entire length of the parking lot. Also, my husband mentioned that it said August o6 on it, anybody know what that means ?

What's the deal with that parking lot at King Ed? Is it owned by Translink? Last time I checked there were no parking restrictions on it.

[duener]

I don't skateboard, but in their defence they were just "using" the art/bench as much as anyone else. Besides, skateboarding is such a massive part of Vancouver's culture. I can't think of any other city in the world that's as skate-oriented.

Thank goodness this rebelliousness is part of Western culture. It's what led the Magna Carta and the creation of Canada and US, etc. in the first place. It's a source of creativity and an antidote to autocratic rule so common in much of the world.

[Metro-One]

I don't skateboard, but in their defence they were just "using" the art/bench as much as anyone else. Besides, skateboarding is such a massive part of Vancouver's culture. I can't think of any other city in the world that's as skate-oriented.

Ok, using that logic the next time I am downtown I am going to go into an office elevator and take a shit in it. I will use this "I was using it just as much as anyone else" theory.

You should be a lawyer!

I also love your stretch between our society today and vandalism. There is a difference between being rebellious for a cause and having some form or civic respect. I guess Hells Angels and all the other gangs around here should be praised as well, for their rebellious behavior is what has given us the Magna Carta!

[MistyMountainHop]

What's wrong with skateboarders using it?

[Metro-One]

What is wrong with skateboarders using it is it is a bench designed for sitting and obviously the skateboarding has destroyed it.

I have nothing against skateboarding itself, but I do have a problem with situations such as this. There is a reason why many public facilities go out of their way to prohibit skateboarding on their facilities.

Again, using this logic it is OK for me to rip around in a 4X4 truck on a skatepark, tearing up the concrete. Thats not what a skatepark is for, but I am still using it!

It is called mutual respect people. We all cry for having clean streets and nice street furniture and good public transit etc... so in order to have such we have to have respect for these facilities, those who build & manage them and for everyone else who uses them. Skateboarding destroys many surfaces and stops other people (especially elderly) from using those facilities.

[mr.x]

The thing is....the bench wasn't meant to be skateboarded on, and secondly its main purpose - to be sat on - doesn't damage the bench, unlike skateboarding.


We need much tougher anti-vandalism laws and punishments.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by marmorek

What's wrong with skateboarders using it?

are you friggin kidding me? Might have something to do with the fact that skateboards damage the fuck out of almost everything.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Again, using this logic it is OK for me to rip around in a 4X4 truck on a skatepark, tearing up the concrete. Thats not what a skatepark is for, but I am still using it!

perfect

[Zassk]

Regardless of how you feel about skateboarding (on this artwork or elsewhere), it's quite a scandal that a piece of public art was made so fragile. Artwork for public places should be extremely durable, otherwise it is a waste of money to commission it. I mean, you have to assume a certain level of physical abuse in a public space, and a week of skateboarding surely isn't unusual abuse. Who will pay to fix it up and make it more durable? I feel that some of the responsibility falls on the artist in this case.

[agrant]

What he said.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by Zassk

Regardless of how you feel about skateboarding (on this artwork or elsewhere), it's quite a scandal that a piece of public art was made so fragile. Artwork for public places should be extremely durable, otherwise it is a waste of money to commission it. I mean, you have to assume a certain level of physical abuse in a public space, and a week of skateboarding surely isn't unusual abuse. Who will pay to fix it up and make it more durable? I feel that some of the responsibility falls on the artist in this case.

The art piece is on loan from the artist, and she has said that she will pay for the cost to fix it up.

[agrant]

Originally Posted by mr.x

The art piece is on loan from the artist, and she has said that she will pay for the cost to fix it up.

What about the cost for a security guard?