About the Artist: Al McWilliams |
Vancouver Sun
Malcolm Parry
Thursday, April 03, 2008
GOLDEN GLOBES: Delta Land Development president Bruce Langereis gave artist Al McWilliams a rare directive regarding passersby when he commissioned a public sculpture to stand beside his firm's $100-million Cielo tower at Hastings and Bute Street.
"I asked him to generate the looks folk would give if a couple was having sex there," Langereis said Monday.
McWilliams responded with two 1.6-metre-diameter golden spheres mounted atop a five-metre plinth that some may take to be the world's biggest licorice allsort or a stack of monster ice-cream sandwiches.
A retort-like tube projecting from each 24K-gold-coated sphere echoes Mars-Venus, male-female astronomical symbols.
The gold symbolizes what happened to Cielo's six-month owners, who paid an average of $700 per square foot for their 146 units, and might realize over $1,000 today. Green would be an equally fitting colour as the tower is geothermally heated and cooled, and also draws heat from the ground-floor Urban Fair grocery store's refrigeration plant.
Langereis' artistic directive appears to resonate with tenants. As one entered the 30-floor tower Monday, the developer asked what she thought of the monument. "Very nice," she replied. Then, pointing to the Coal Harbour waterfront two blocks away: "But I'd be happier if it was over there."
For more Information:
City of Vancouver Public Art Program |
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