A Little Shade for You and Me, Under this Iron Tree

Public art means, by its definition, art on free display. Something which is available to anyone interested enough to learn it exits. Publicly funded art is, by its definition, about who paid for it. If you pay taxes, and your government is funding an artistic effort in your city or country, you own a little piece of that project. If publicly funded art is owned by all the citizens, part of its creation should consider that all of those people are entitled to share in it.
In London, Canada, there is hardly a shortage of public art in the downtown core, but it has, in the past, been a mix of old and new, of  the well presented, and of the falling apart. The city government grabbed a lot of attention with its Trees of the Carolinian Forest installation, created in stages from 2007 to 2009. The question that this entry asks is: Did this effort create an accessible, consistent image of art in London?

These are your trees, Mr. Taxpayer

So, there we are, the corner of King and Talbot St. in the downtown core. The trees are very much attention grabbers in the frame, and I haven't used any photoshop tweak in the above photo to highlight them. How does the street here compare to any other in Ontario?

This is downtown Kitchener, which incorporates a lot of genius level architectural features, but does not have the instant identification that the London corner has.

The other notable feature about every tree in the Carolinian forest installation, is that you can walk right up and touch them.

No fences, no signs, no barriers. Located on public sidewalks and walkways, with a couple of exceptions. If you want your picture taken with one, go ahead, lean right on it. You want to get underneath it an take it in from every angle?

Not trespassing.

Sure, go ahead! Check them out. They are spread around as well, so if I were a tourist and wanted to have  picture of all the downtown buildings, and many of the landmarks, such as the John Labatt Centre and One London Place, I could be standing with a tree in all of them.

It is an easy way to bring the trees into the experience of the downtown. Or I could try to get a good angle on this:

And get run over by a bus in the process. That picture (linked from elsewhere) shows the sculpture "People & The City". It is located in the island dividing the north and southbound lanes of Wellington St. It is one of the busiest intersections in the downtown. If you would like to get close enough to look at it or touch it, you have to jaywalk across 2 lanes of traffic and straddle the end of the monument. It fails the accessibility test on every level.

Or I could go to Toronto and get my picture taken with this. Hard to miss, it also makes my list of  'hard to understand'.

Éloges de Fontenelle

There are some who would argue that the concept of steel trees that represent the native forest are too obvious a choice to be important art in the city. I would argue that the above work, is a little to far out in its meaning to have a connection with the general public. Accessibility has a mental component to it too. With the focus on public ownership of an artwork, the enjoyment and understanding of the average person is where the focus should lie, not with the art lover, per se.

So the question was, does the Carolinian Forest installation create and accessible and consistent artistic image for the London downtown?

In regards to accessibility, I would give a definite yes. The trees are all recognisable at a distance, and represent something familiar in an artistic way. They are also part of the land and traffic flow in a very sensible way. They provide sightseers something to include in, and to pose with in photographs. They are (whether you like it of not) uniquely 'London' by their very presence.

Do they create a feeling of being a whole project as you travel through the core of the city? No, not really. There isn't any reason to find the next tree, or group of trees. Some corners have seven or eight trees visible. Just two blocks away, there may be none in sight. There is no indication of how many trees there are in total, or any explanation as to why they were located where they are. Without a sense of the whole, the individual parts become isolated, and lose much or their impact.

So I, personally, am split on how much their presence means in the downtown. They are available to everyone, but what kind of attachment is anyone supposed to form with them?

Next time I post about the Trees of the Carolinian Forest, I'll have a few thoughts on what an installation's durability might have to do with its success as public art.

This site is all about public art, but more important than reading about it, is finding it and seeing it. Which is why I have begun to compile a gallery of all of these trees in London, and put these metal trees on a map as I go. I've also got a map for the Tree Trunk Tour and pages for the artists involved in all of these projects.

Eldon House

There are currently 16 trees on the London Tree Trunk Tour, but now only 15 stops. If you are visiting London from outside of the city, there is a good chance that one of your first stops after leaving Highway 401 will be the London Tourism Visitors Centre.

'Eldon House', a carving representing one of London's other tourist attractions, is located beside the visitor's centre, at 696 Wellington Road South. This carving has recently been joined by Mother Nature, most likely due to issues with that trunk's structural stability in its old Queens Av. location. The Visitor's Centre is about a ten minute drive from downtown, so its not a walking tour, by any means. Having more that one sculpture in the same place does give people more of an opportunity to stop and take a look at what they are all about.

'Eldon House' is somewhat similar to 'Charles S. Hyman' in its construction. There are a few elements which were carved into the trunk itself, and many other parts of the design are plaques made in a workshop and attached to the tree once it was finished in this location.

There is, unlike any of the other stops on the tour, a commemorative plaque in front of the trunk, which gives a little bit of info about the carving, and also promotes Eldon House itself.

The trunk has large, rough, rounded flowers at the top, which look like daisies, or perhaps peonies, London's official flower. They face both the front and back of the piece.










The elements that relate to Eldon house itself are divided into 8 separate areas on the trunk. Two designs are placed every 90 degree turn around the tree, giving the carving 4 different 'faces' to look at.





The front face has an owl's face recessed into the top and carved in relief. It was carved from the solid piece of trunk. The bottom is a front view of Eldon house with its wide veranda. 

Travelling around the trunk counter-clockwise, the next face is two portraits, Amelia Ryerse Harris above, and John Harris below. These images appear to have been created from scans of official portraits inside the house.

The rear face of the carving has a compass on the top. John Harris was a surveyor in the British Navy, and one of the initial surveyors when Upper Canada was being mapped. This is likely what the compass represents. Below, there is a view of one of the ladies of Eldon House in the dining room.  The house was well known at the time for its hospitality. That reputation was not harmed by the fact that the Harris family had seven daughters to court.

The fourth face's plaques picture an elephant's foot umbrella stand, and a military soldier in a doorway. The umbrella stand is a well known trophy, collected by John's grandson George Henry Ronalds Harris during his time in Africa. The soldier is, if you look closely, somewhat transparent, which makes me think he represents the ghost of Eldon House. This story seems to have a higher level of interest than when I visited Eldon House on school field trips as a child.

 I would like to make a couple of notes about how the caving was made. The main body of the tree is a chainsaw carved trunk, with trees and leaves. Almost all of the detail work is slabs of wood carved with a computer aided design technique, and then attached after the trunk was placed in its location. For the chainsaw carving purist, this might not be what was expected in a sculpture. I'm also not sure how well the pieces will age and colour relative to the different wood on the trunk itself.

The signature is a subtle one again. The initials of Neil Cox, and Mary-Ann Jack-Bleach, the collaborating artists, are carved into
the trunk, above a date of 2010.





Although this is not a movie, I do have bonus footage! Check out the arrival and completion of this tree carving, courtesy of Tourism London.

Return to the Tree Trunk Tour Overview Page
Check out all the entries using the London Art Map  
Curious about this artist? Try Neil Cox's Links

Mother Nature

Located at 326 Queens Av., west of Waterloo St. is the tree trunk carving 'Mother Nature'. Edit: It has come to my attention that this carving has been re-located to the London Tourism grounds on Wellington Road South. I suspect this was due to safety concerns about the integrity of the base. The London Tourism website tells us that the carving was done by Neil Cox. There are no indications of a specific sponsorship for this sculpture, though it does sit on property in front of Dr. Reavell dentistry and Willow Medi-Spa. It was carved from a trunk that had 2 large main branches, and we can start looking at it from the bottom up.







There are ears of corn and what looks like a squash or pumpkin tucked in behind them on the lower side. These are symbols of harvest time and nature's bounty. Through contact with the artist, I have found out that these plants were chosen because they were grown by native peoples.

















On the rear of the trunk, there are large flowers carved in relief, including a bold and deeply petaled rose. I would interpret these as symbols of nature's beauty.











On the east side, there are maple leaves, perhaps to acknowledge the tree before it became a carving. These are done in low relief, and in more of a stylized way than other parts of this sculpture.










The top of the tree follows the natural split in the trunk, on the left, a path winds up to a Victorian style house. Take a look directly behind the carving if you are on Queens Av, and you will see the carved house matches its features exactly with the real house behind. There may not be a cat in the gable window of the real house, though.

 

 Curving up the left side are skyscrapers, as we symbolically progress from a natural,wild time, to the modern age in our city.

From behind, one skyscraper arcs wildly over to one side, but the attention to detail is wonderful, with windows and supports cut in all around the structure. 

On the right side of the split trunk, is Mother Nature herself. The peaceful expression on the face is wonderful. There is a natural look to her face, her flowing hair and her expression. There is a child seemingly rising out of the top of her head, arms raised to the sky.

Consider again, the delicate work accomplished without the shelter of a workshop, and the results become that much more impressive.

 


There is, in fact, a signature on the carving, which was small enough, and subtle enough that I missed it the first time I photographed this tree trunk. With apologies to Mr. Cox, here it is.




The result of combining the natural and the man-made might seem to set the carving up for a conflict between its elements, but in looking at the finished result, I think the message seems to be more about balance.

Now, as to the condition of the piece, it is certainly suffering from splitting and cracking at the upper portion. Aesthetically, some of the drama has faded from the sculpture, quite literally. The pictures taken shortly after completion on Tourism London's map show rich colour variations made by the artist scorching the surface of the wood with a propane torch. There is more depth and contrast created between elements when done right. By now the weather has washed away that dimension of the piece. Time will tell if any restoration occurs on this stop of the Tree Trunk Tour.

Looking for more art like this? Well try these links -

Neil Cox is also listed as the artist for 'Charles Smith Hyman' on this project.

Return to the Tree Trunk Tour Overview Page

Check out all the entries using the London Art Map

Charles Smith Hyman

In front of 246 Hyman St., in the middle of the block between Richmond and Wellington, is the Tree Trunk Tour carving 'Charles Smith Hyman'.
When I initially viewed the carving, the pictures I brought back made me believe that this entry would be a) short and b)reflect a disappointing sculpture. I am happy to say that, due to a meeting with Mike Harris of Tourism London, neither of those things is true anymore.
The reason for the disappointment on my first trip was the damage that had been done to this trunk. I wasn't sure if it was falling apart, but Tourism London believed it to be deliberate vandalism. There are 12 panels on the obelisk like structure. When I first saw it, three of the carved plaques were missing. You can see the middle right one in the picture above.

Here, on the side which faces west, there were two more missing pieces. I was, at the time quite put off by what I might report had happened to this work of art.

Happily, my conversation with Tourism London allowed me to discovered that repairs had been done by Neil Cox, the original artist. I had just missed the repair by a couple of weeks!











Today, the carving has been restored, and resealed with a darker stain, its formerly damaged sides look like this:

I think it is important that the stewardship of these pieces is a continuing effort on the part of those who own them. Outdoor art is much more easily damaged and lost than the museum pieces that most of us think about.

The replaced panels on the west facing side of this trunk are the most obvious in their symbolism.

At the bottom is a picture of the front of Idlewyld. This was C.S. Hyman's residence in London, built for him is 1878. The large mansion exists today, as Idelwyld Inn, a luxury 23 room hotel on Grand Av. The house has, at different times in its 133 year history, been converted to apartments, and a seniors home as well.

And in the middle is a picture of C.S. Hyman himself. He was a businessman, politician, and tennis player, among his many claims to fame. He was London born in 1854, and died in 1926. The link has more highlights of Hyman's life and role in London's history.







When first documenting this carving, I had quite a puzzle on my hands. I had 7 symbols that I didn't have any background information on. I did not know what part of Hyman St. or C.S. Hyman's life it might tie into. they varied in style, but I was presented with shapes like this:
 

 Once again, I have Mike Harris of Tourism London to thank for giving me the hint I needed. If you are standing on the street facing north, look at the house to the right and behind. At the top of the roof, you will see this:

 Now I get where the designs have been drawn from. Victorian era homes usually had architectural details that were specific to certain builders and craftsmen. The supports for the eaves, and details on roof lines and door frames were up to the carpenter who finished these elements off, meaning every house had a unique twist to it. The carving celebrates design bits from several nearby houses.


Just behind and slightly to the right we have this:











If you face south, the house directly opposite has this peaked roof detail:

 
 Across the street and one house to the west, in the middle of the front steps:

 And roof supports on the nearest house on the north side of the street.
















 These representations appear on the trunk:














 
Once the concept becomes clear, the artwork makes more sense. In context, the carving is inseparable from the place where it stands, reflecting the neighbourhood around it in an almost literal way.






Which leaves me with only one unanswered question. What does this represent?

It is the one panel that I cannot see in the houses around, nor recognize enough to tie to London or C.S. Hyman.









The Tree Trunk tour map tells us that Neil Cox was the artist, but I did not see a signature on this trunk. It is quite different from most of the others, as all the detailed elements were completed in a workshop and brought to the site afterwards. There is the official tour logo plug inserted at the base of the structure. I would have to say that the overall condition is quite good, which would be expected with repairs being completed on the whole thing in the last few weeks. This carving certainly provides an interesting opportunity to think about the differences in theme and technique that can come into the same realm as the Robbin Wenzoski creations we have looked at so far.

Return to the Tree Trunk Tour Overview Page

Check out all the entries using the London Art Map