Sunday, January 21, 2018

Ice Breakers winter art at the waterfront

Toronto's hunger for interesting activities brings out the crowds during the cold of winter to see temporary art installations along Harbourfront or the Toronto Light Fest in the Distillery District. Ice Breakers comes back to Queens Quay West between York Street and Spadina Avenue with five new pieces for Winter 2018. The works will be on display from January 19 to February 25 all along the south side of Queens Quay. My favourite was the half buried red bear called "Through the eyes of the bear".
‘Through the Eyes of the Bear’ by Tanya Goertzen of People Places (Calgary, Canada). Inspired by Ursa Major - the Great Bear constellation. You can walk into the head and look out of the eyes. The bear is made of renewable, recyclable and compostable materials.
‘Black Bamboo’ by Bennet Marburger and Ji Zhang of 2408 Studio ( Hangzhou Shi, China). The shape is an abstract cube made of painted bamboo poles.

"After the huge success of last year's Ice Breakers event, we decided to open the exhibit up as an international competition for 2018. We were looking for installations that would bring colour, warmth and activity to the Waterfront - attracting visitors from across the City to experience this spectacular wintertime streetscape," says Carol Jolly, Executive Director, The Waterfront BIA. You can see the 2017 Ice Breakers on my post here. The theme for 2018 is "constellation" and designers and artists were asked to create their projects with the stars as inspiration.
A hundred international submissions were received and the jury chose five final installations on October 19, 2017. "The name Ice Breakers is inspired by the utilitarian ships once used in Toronto’s harbour to break up frozen bodies of water, keeping commerce flowing into and out of the City. Ice Breakers is also a testament to the power of design, bringing strangers together and sparking a fresh dialogue about Toronto's urban Waterfront."
'Winter FanFare' by Thena Tak (Vancouver, Canada). Fan sculptures provide space for people to walk through.

'Ensemble' by João Araújo Sousa and Joana Correia Silva, JJs Arquitectura (Porto, Portugal). Chimes that make music when touched by visitors.

‘Root Cabin’ by Liz Wreford and Peter Sampson, Public City Architecture (Winnipeg, Canada). Is a cabin shaped by a pile of roots and painted pink inside.



And if you want more art you can see the fourth annual Winter Stations lifeguard installations starting February 19 (Family Day) in the Beaches. Photos by Ann and James Hamilton.

See more photos of the installations after the jump.






Ann and James

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