Marcus Bowcott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lost Lagoon, Stanley Park

A proposal to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation: A Monument for the First Narrows Bridge and Highway

 

Summary:

A sundial sculpture made of stacked automobiles.

Description:

A large sundial, the type most commonly seen in parks and gardens. The gnomon, the triangular device which casts the sun's shadow, consists of car wrecks stacked on top of each other, approximately 100 feet at its highest point. The dial encircling the gnomon will consist of a ring of automobiles, hald submerged. Individual cars will demarcate the hours of the day.

Site:

Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park. The gnomon would rise out of the water towards the eastern shore of the lagoon, where the float/fountain now stands.

Comment:

This sculpture is relevant to the people of Vancouver and the users of Stanley Park for three reasons:

1. The monument's construction would coincide with the building of the proposed First Narrows bridge and highway. The monument and site mediate issues of recreation, functionalisim, aesthetics, consumerism, and mass culture.
2. People of diverse backgrounds will be able to find meaning in it. It can stimulate the consideration fo abstract ideas, or simply communicate the local solar time.
3. The monument considers the automobile in a historical dimension. It stresses the temporary nature of any specific entity, such as the automobile, yet suggests the significance of the automobile as our particular obsession. The sculpture transforms functionless automobile wrecks into an ancient and functional symbol of time, with celectial and thus eternal implications.