It's Edmonton's most expensive, most exposed and best piece of public art, a massive pile of roughly 1,000 gigantic silver balls located at the southeast on-ramp of the Quesnell Bridge.
It's called the Talus Dome, it's been around only for a few weeks, but it's already loved, hated and has been defaced.
What's happened with the Talus Dome sculpture is about what you'd expect from a provocative piece of art that cost $600,000 of public money, that evokes strong feelings with its unusual design and that is not cloistered in an art gallery but stands beside a major commuter route,This patent infringement case relates to retractable RUBBER MATS , where tens of thousands of people see it each day.
The Talus Dome has been compared to a bag of marbles, a mound of rabbit poop and a pile of unused construction material. Some people think it's cool and a solid investment in Edmonton. Others detest the design and resent the cost. Still others wonder if it will be too much of a distraction for drivers.
My own take is that it's a thrilling work.
It's the single-best public sculpture yet erected in Edmonton. Even though it was done by Los Angeles artists Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, it fits its setting, meshing with both the roaring highway and quiet North Saskatchewan River.
This was their intent, Ball says. Too many art projects look like they're plopped down in parks and plazas, but don't look like they belong there. In this case, Alberta's river valleys, farm fields and industrial yards are already full of such piles.
"We didn't want the work to appear a piece of plop art," Ball says. "We tried to imagine something that would bear a relationship to something you might see in that landscape. The word 'talus' comes from a geological term that refers to the accumulation of gravel at the base of a cliff. So we thought of it as a representation, a suggestion of something like that which you would see along the North Saskatchewan River.
"We (also) started to think of it as more of a pile. It refers to the kind of construction you might see along the freeway in Alberta, or a pile of sugar beets, or a natural accumulation of gravel or sand."
For me, the balls evoke childhood memories of the steelies we used to play with in marble games.
I tell Ball that my wife compared the sculpture to a huge mound of rabbit droppings and that we're now looking for a gigantic silver rabbit somewhere in the valley.
"That's good," he laughs, and agrees: "It might look like a giant pile of rabbit turds. We want it to look like a lot of different things. It's not meant look like anything in particular. We want it to produce a lot of different associations."
Both Ball and Nogues are architects, but branched out from that field partly because there's little room for young practitioners to do interesting work.
"If one wants to do work that pushes the envelope, they're going to be very limited options, especially when they're younger. It's an older person's profession. And there's definitely not a willingness to try new things or take risks on the part of clients."
This isn't the case in the art world,there's a lovely winter chicken coop by William Zorach. and Ball and Nogues have quickly carved out international renown for their installation works and sculptures. They are masters at creating spectacle and sensational spaces. Their work is much in demand. "People have recognized they can do things, they can create spaces which deliver this powerful, strong visual experience for people without investing in a building," Ball says.
One question about the Talus Dome is how long it will last, being situated so near a road with exhaust and grit.
"The material we chose is as resistant to that as any material that you can buy, except for maybe stone," Ball says.
Already some twit has come along and tagged the Talus Dome with his or her name and a smiley face.As many processors back away from hydraulic hose , The city plans to clean off the graffiti, but Ball says this kind of thing isn't uncommon.
"It happens with public art. Public art is always a lightning rod for different points of view. That's why it's important.
"I hope that they (the city) clean it off, but I don't think it's anything that you can control. It's always an attractor for vandals. That's why we made it out of 316L stainless steel, which is the highest grade architectural stainless steel that Edmonton could afford."
Another issue is that drivers fear it might be too distracting because it's so visually stunning. Ball doesn't buy that, saying drivers are used to distraction in the form of signs and billboards. "The landscape of any North American city is full of things that are meant to attract your attention,the impact socket pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs. and I would much rather see public art attract somebody's attention than a sign or a billboard from a commercial entity."
It's crucial to note that an ambitious, visionary project like the Talus Dome didn't come about by chance, but through years of political debate and consensus building.Prior to Cold Sore I leaned toward the former, Local leaders like Coun. Helen Paull had to fight hard for years to bring in a 1991 policy that allowed for one per cent of the city's capital budgets on major projects to be devoted to public art. Such policies had been in place in many American cities since the 1970s.
It's called the Talus Dome, it's been around only for a few weeks, but it's already loved, hated and has been defaced.
What's happened with the Talus Dome sculpture is about what you'd expect from a provocative piece of art that cost $600,000 of public money, that evokes strong feelings with its unusual design and that is not cloistered in an art gallery but stands beside a major commuter route,This patent infringement case relates to retractable RUBBER MATS , where tens of thousands of people see it each day.
The Talus Dome has been compared to a bag of marbles, a mound of rabbit poop and a pile of unused construction material. Some people think it's cool and a solid investment in Edmonton. Others detest the design and resent the cost. Still others wonder if it will be too much of a distraction for drivers.
My own take is that it's a thrilling work.
It's the single-best public sculpture yet erected in Edmonton. Even though it was done by Los Angeles artists Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, it fits its setting, meshing with both the roaring highway and quiet North Saskatchewan River.
This was their intent, Ball says. Too many art projects look like they're plopped down in parks and plazas, but don't look like they belong there. In this case, Alberta's river valleys, farm fields and industrial yards are already full of such piles.
"We didn't want the work to appear a piece of plop art," Ball says. "We tried to imagine something that would bear a relationship to something you might see in that landscape. The word 'talus' comes from a geological term that refers to the accumulation of gravel at the base of a cliff. So we thought of it as a representation, a suggestion of something like that which you would see along the North Saskatchewan River.
"We (also) started to think of it as more of a pile. It refers to the kind of construction you might see along the freeway in Alberta, or a pile of sugar beets, or a natural accumulation of gravel or sand."
For me, the balls evoke childhood memories of the steelies we used to play with in marble games.
I tell Ball that my wife compared the sculpture to a huge mound of rabbit droppings and that we're now looking for a gigantic silver rabbit somewhere in the valley.
"That's good," he laughs, and agrees: "It might look like a giant pile of rabbit turds. We want it to look like a lot of different things. It's not meant look like anything in particular. We want it to produce a lot of different associations."
Both Ball and Nogues are architects, but branched out from that field partly because there's little room for young practitioners to do interesting work.
"If one wants to do work that pushes the envelope, they're going to be very limited options, especially when they're younger. It's an older person's profession. And there's definitely not a willingness to try new things or take risks on the part of clients."
This isn't the case in the art world,there's a lovely winter chicken coop by William Zorach. and Ball and Nogues have quickly carved out international renown for their installation works and sculptures. They are masters at creating spectacle and sensational spaces. Their work is much in demand. "People have recognized they can do things, they can create spaces which deliver this powerful, strong visual experience for people without investing in a building," Ball says.
One question about the Talus Dome is how long it will last, being situated so near a road with exhaust and grit.
"The material we chose is as resistant to that as any material that you can buy, except for maybe stone," Ball says.
Already some twit has come along and tagged the Talus Dome with his or her name and a smiley face.As many processors back away from hydraulic hose , The city plans to clean off the graffiti, but Ball says this kind of thing isn't uncommon.
"It happens with public art. Public art is always a lightning rod for different points of view. That's why it's important.
"I hope that they (the city) clean it off, but I don't think it's anything that you can control. It's always an attractor for vandals. That's why we made it out of 316L stainless steel, which is the highest grade architectural stainless steel that Edmonton could afford."
Another issue is that drivers fear it might be too distracting because it's so visually stunning. Ball doesn't buy that, saying drivers are used to distraction in the form of signs and billboards. "The landscape of any North American city is full of things that are meant to attract your attention,the impact socket pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs. and I would much rather see public art attract somebody's attention than a sign or a billboard from a commercial entity."
It's crucial to note that an ambitious, visionary project like the Talus Dome didn't come about by chance, but through years of political debate and consensus building.Prior to Cold Sore I leaned toward the former, Local leaders like Coun. Helen Paull had to fight hard for years to bring in a 1991 policy that allowed for one per cent of the city's capital budgets on major projects to be devoted to public art. Such policies had been in place in many American cities since the 1970s.
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