Toronto One Bloor East | 257.24m | 76s | Great Gulf | Hariri Pontarini

It looks like it could be hypnotic and engaging. I wonder if Safe Hands can be executed so that it works noiselessly? …and of course they will want it to be able to work reliably for as long as possible with as little maintenance as possible. I don't know the budget for it, but it will be in the several millions, so we can expect the finest materials will be used.

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It definitely made me think of a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man... and I'm totally OK with that. The "high culture" world of art has been obsessed with tacky, low culture ever since Andy Warhol's soup cans. Right now, Jeff Koons' giant ball of play-doh in the Whitney is the hottest art piece on display in New York while in Paul McCarthy's "Tree" (a giant butt-plug) is shocking jaded Parisians. While this piece is somewhat more abstract than those other examples, it seems to somehow fit in that current vein. This piece may not to be everyone's taste but it's interesting, dynamic, and I would argue, fitting as a gateway to heretofore tacky Yonge Street.

Hope it turns out well!
 
Is an Apple store going in the podium? There's a Apple logo in that art video which looks relatively new.
As far Safe Hands go, I like it but I think it's in the wrong location and the wrong project. It looks crammed into the side of the building and obstructing the sidewalk (won't be pleasant for snow clearing). Because 1B is so tall, your eye will be naturally drawn up. This art piece competes for that attention which I don't like.
Also curious how this will withstand the high winds that Bloor street endures or extreme cold temperatures. Doubtful it will be moving in those conditions. I wonder if it will be powered by a connection to 1B or it will be connected to the city's electrical grid.
 
I like it. The dynamic nature of the sculpture complements the dynamic facade of One Bloor.
My only problem is the crumpled metal skin at the piece's base. It doesn't work very well with One Bloor, looks like it would feel more at home with M+G haha.
 
I'm reserving judgment on the sculpture until I see it executed. I've viewed the video of it a few times, and keep going back and forth. My initial reaction was that it was tacky, but now I think it might be an elegant eye-catcher. Depends on how fast it moves, how visibly it does so, how well it engages and mirrors the architecture of the building, and how it looks from a number of vantage points.
 
It'll actually move ? Wow that'll make it very expensive to maintain though ? I can't see that being kept ?.
 
I think it depends how they make the rotation work. If there are multiple rotation points up each post it could have a really hypnotic quality, watching those big steel canisters graze by each other. If it's just one rotation point at the base of each arm I could see it looking tacky.
 
In the video, to my eyes it looks like the sections each have pivoting points. I'm not mechanically enough minded to know if there's a simple trick that can accomplish this; I more rather expect that this will have quite complicated innards.

In regards to who would pay to keep it going, there is some money set aside for the maintenance in the budget for the work. The document below is from 2011. Not sure if it's up-to-date as it was set before the piece was chosen. Developers do on occasion spend more on the art than required by the contract with the City.

5. BUDGET

Estimated 1% for Public Art Requirement $1.8 million (Total Project Density: 814,360 sf)

10% Administration Allowance
As per the Section 37 Agreement, a 10% Administration Allowance has been allocated to bring to completion the phase consisting of artist selection. This process includes: artist research, preparation of competition materials (Invitation for Expression of Interest, Stage 2 Finalist Brief, jury briefing and contract), competition coordination and preparation of draft artist agreement.

15% Allowance for Consultant, Professional and Services
Landscape Architect (coordination with base landscape) Architect (coordination with base building)
Structural and Electrical consultants
Site preparation and contractor mark ups
Legal fees

5% Project Documentation and Documentary Allowance

5% Maintenance Endowment Allowance
May be adjusted depending on the final artwork program. Usually a reserve of up to 10% of fabrication cost is set aside to ensure condo corporation has the funds to maintain the artwork. Must be used exclusively for art maintenance. This will be incorporated into the condo docs by the lawyer.

65% Artwork Allowance
For design, supply, fabrication, delivery and installation of the public art.
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Saw One Bloor in person yesterday and it is looking awesome. Where Yonge and Bloor used to look quite expansive in my eye previously its now looking small all of a sudden. And that's before the southwest corner gets developed.
 
Public art is already on its way in front of 2 Bloor E.

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I've always thought that Toronto had a paucity of public art when compared to places such as Chicago. It's great to see that changing ever so slowly.
 
Benito said:
I've always thought that Toronto had a paucity of public art when compared to places such as Chicago. It's great to see that changing ever so slowly.
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We have plenty of public art (considering the 1% rule has been around for awhile) - just not necessarily particularly good ones mos of the time, and there are some truly awful examples of "art" out there.

taal said:
It'll actually move ? Wow that'll make it very expensive to maintain though ? I can't see that being kept ?.
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Yeah that'd be my concern too - would be nice if there is a trust fund set up to maintain it (perhaps under the auspices of the BIA?).

AoD
 
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