Between classes this fall I’ve been writing letters to Bryan Newson, the City of Vancouver Public Art Program Manager, about the hosted light installation by Diana Thater which stretches 149 metres up the side of Vancouver’s downtown waterfront Shaw Tower. It’s a column of LED lights that are computer programmed to dissolve from green to blue, beginning at the base of the tower and stretching uninterrupted to the very tip of the tower.
The light dominates our skyline as seen from Burrard Inlet. It’s a fantastic sight, when it’s not in need of maintenance. There have been gaps in the light for 18 of the last 24 months, burnt out LEDs which Shaw seems to repair too slowly. Since the owner and developer were required to implement the hosted art by the City, I wrote to the City in June 2008 and asked them to compel Shaw to effect some repairs on Diana Thater’s art.
By January 2009 the lights were almost all repaired, but by June even more LEDs needed replacing. If the art installation were smaller, less conspicuous or if it were, in fact, repaired in a more timely manner, I wouldn’t have contacted the City right away about it, but write them I did and they contacted Shaw. Jason Harmston of the Shaw Tower Building Operations responded with a charming and eloquent PR email about how proud the Shaw Tower is to host the art, about the difficulty in obtaining WorkSafe variances for a swing bridge to effect the repairs, about the out-of-warranty hardware…
Basically it’s December 2009 and for 18 of the last 24 months one of the wealthiest corporations conducting business in our community has been derelict in its duty to maintain public art in the very community that sustains its profit margins. It really grinds my gears. What’s the point of public art that falls into immediate and perpetual disrepair? This isn’t dada, this is lightbulbs and laziness, and a complete lack of consideration for the people who live here.
Vancouver Skyline 1, mschroeter140 (Flickr)
I call my partner Scott an armchair architect because he doesn’t have an architecture degree but he lives, breathes and loves architecture. Scott regularly contributes to forums about architecture and development and he’s thinking about taking some courses in industrial design. His strong and well-developed opinions about what constitutes good design and development are inspiring me to take a closer and more critical look at Vancouver and the buildings that are being erected in our community.
Please write to the City of Vancouver and tell them you want a Vancouver that doesn’t look like its skyline is perpetually in need of maintenance: publicart@vancouver.ca.
