There’s a Poodle in that Park!
The unique cultural character of hyper-localism is being recognized in a new public art project Memento by Gisele Amantea, that pays homage to the unique variety of collectible and antique shops, thrift stores and corner stores along the 88 Blocks of Main Street.
Untitled (Poodle), a 33‐foot high sculpture, comprises a 7‐foot high cast aluminum representation of a porcelain poodle figurine perched on a platform atop a 25‐foot high steel pole. Can you guess where this representation of a formal porcelain figurine is located?
Finding it will be less of a challenge for those aboard the articulated trolleys that service the #3 Main bus route. TransLink has partnered with the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Program to help realize Amantea’s vision of a suite of three temporary works that actually move along the thoroughfare aboard and outside this key mode of transport.
Memento – Pink completely wraps an articulated trolley in a knit cozy of a pink poodle and includes an interior card inside the trolley that references a how‐to book from the 1960s for making wool poodle cozies.
Extending the theme of the project, are two more sites in and on transit:
- Memento – Envy, installed on the outside of a second trolley, is a panel which depicts a group of poodle cozies made for bottles looking with longing and jealousy at a porcelain poodle figurine—suggesting the class and cultural differences that historically have marked Main Street. This second trolley also features three thematically related interior cards in which knit figures act as the dramatis personae.
- Memento – Multo, inside a third trolley, features a set of twenty‐two interior cards depicting over 100 different examples of the modest but culturally and aesthetically interesting objects that can be found in shops along Main’s 88 Blocks.
Passengers, and others will be able to view the display until the Spring of 2013.
88 BLOCKS invites your questions and comments! Use the comment space below to guess at where the Poodle might be located, to leave links to images of the project, and to tell us your stories of the historic and the currently evolving material culture of Vancouver’s Main Street.
88 BLOCKS ART ON MAIN
88 Blocks Art on Main is presented by the City of Vancouver Public Art Program and TransLink. Planned and implemented by Maureen Smith of id ă Public Art Consulting, 88 BLOCKS is a public art program for Main Street in Vancouver with three exhibitions. The exhibitions are launched in series over a multi‐year period and offer changing artwork on three articulated trolleys servicing the #3 Main route, several temporary artwork installations and at least one permanent installation in each exhibition at various locations along the Main Street corridor. The first project for 88 Block was A Bright Future by Instant Coffee, the second project was Main Play by Germaine Koh and the third project is Memento by Gisele Amantea.
The poodle on main street is a terrible representation of the main street community. It is a bit of an eye sore. No offence to the artist, but it is just not right. I hope it is only an installation and will be gone soon.
Main streeter.
i’ve been here for 15 years and this is the first poodle i have seen in the neighborhood. it’s a symbol of gentrification to most of us.
What’s even more offensive then the Poodle, is the cost. TransLink just told people they are again upping the fees for city transportation. People are just trying to afford a way to get to work to make just enough money to afford to live in this expensive place. To waist 100k on something like this silly statue in the faces of the very people that are unhappy paying too much for transportation is insulting. Give your head a shake TransLink. Get “our” money back and give the people a break on transLink fees instead.
Please lets spend our tax dollars responsibly. (As far as I can see, and that woud be the requisite 33 feet) This is a joke and a slap in the face to all of us that pay taxes through the nose!
The problem win this art project is that it immediately suggests the poodle as a symbol of lapdogs as opposed to an object foun in antique shops. There are many other interesting objects that could have been more effective at representing the feel of the neighborhood than a porcelain poodle.