Art and architecture were gracefully combined in the amazing display in Brookfield Place during April of 2013. The great vaulted ceiling, with its modern Gothic-like arches, was created by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and the art installation was the work of Vancouver-based artist Scott Massey. Entitled “Enclosed Field,” the commissioned work was designed specifically for Calarava’s great atrium. An explanation that was posted near the exhibition stated that the work was, “rooted in Massey’s exploration of the natural world through cultural and technological means.” The display consists of approximately 3000 anodized aluminum rods, each standing 48 inches high. It is as if a wheat field is growing under the high vaulted ceiling of Brookfield Place.
Massey was inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s series of paintings, “The Wheat Field.” In Van Gough’ work, the ever-changing light and colour of the wheat fields was captured on canvas. Massey has attempted to portray a similar effect, employing iodized rods. The sign beside the work states, “The smooth, gold surface of the iodized rods, with their polished dome tips, mirrors the changing light’s many moods. Depending on the time of day or the weather outside, the colouration of the rods may shift from pale metallic to an intense vibrant gold.”
I thoroughly enjoyed viewing this installation, as did the many others who stopped to admire the work and take pictures. I saw it on a an unusually dull and blustery day, so common during April of 2013. I regret that I did not have an opportunity to photograph the art work when it was sunny. Despite this, the art brought sunshine to my soul as I departed Brookfield Place to journey to the St. Lawrence Market, where the colourful arrays of food added to the pleasure I always receive from exploring the city.
One of Van Gogh’s paintings in the series of the Wheat Fields. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
The iodized rods in Massey’s creation
The floor of Brookfield Place during the art display
Massey’s art work under the vaulted ceiling of Brookfield Place
To view the Home Page for this blog: https://tayloronhistory.com/
To view a post about another art installation in Brookfield Place, exhibited during March of 2013
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/03/18/torontos-architectural-gems-brookfield-place/
To view posts about Toronto’s graffiti art scene:
Toronto graffiti murals amid the winter snows
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/12/31/graffiti-murals-in-toronto-amid-the-winter-snow-2012/
Uber5000 painting a building in Graffiti Alley
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/11/08/uber5000-has-new-graffiti-art-in-mcdougall-lane/
New commissioned mural by Uber5000 at 74 Denison Avenue
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/11/04/new-graffiti-mural-by-uber5000-on-dennison-avenue/
New mural on McCaul Street has traces of Diego Rivera
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/11/03/new-mccaul-st-mural-has-traces-of-diego-rivera/
Black and white graffiti in Kensington Market is unique
McDougall Lane has a new graffiti display (Nov. 2012)
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/11/01/mcdougall-alley-has-a-new-display-of-graffiti-art/
The graffiti-decorated “hug-me-tree” on Queen Street West.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/10/25/queen-street-wests-graffiti-adorned-hug-me-tree/
Graffiti in a laneway amid the colours of autumn
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/10/23/graffiti-amid-autumn-in-the-city/
A mural in the Kensington Market, with tongue-in-cheek humour:
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/10/17/clever-humorous-graffiti-in-the-kensington-market/
July of 2011, a post about the abstract expressionists.
August of 2012, comparing the work of the graffiti artist Uber5000 to the abstract expressionists.
A Torontonian’s view of Mexican graffiti art and graffiti
https://tayloronhistory.com/2013/01/14/a-torontonian-viewing-mexican-graffiti-and-graffiti-art/
To view other posts about Toronto’s past and its historic buildings:
Toronto’s vanishing 19th-century store fronts.
The Art Deco bus terminal at Bay and Dundas Streets.
Photos of the surroundings of the CN Tower and and the St. Lawrence Market in 1977
The old Dominion Bank Building at King and Yonge Street
The Canada Life Building on University and Queen Street West.
Campbell House at the corner of Queen Street West and University Avenue
A study of Osgoode Hall
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/12/enjoying-torontos-architectural-gems-osgoode-hall/
Toronto’s first City Hall, now a part of the St. Lawrence Market
Toronto’s Draper Street, a time-tunnel into the 19th century
The Black Bull Tavern at Queen and Soho Streets, established in 1822
History of the 1867 fence around Osgoode Hall on Queen Street West at York Street
Gathering around the radio as a child in the 1940s
The opening of the University Theatre on Bloor Street, west of Bay St.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/02/24/the-opening-of-torontos-university-theatre-on-bloor-street/
122 persons perish in the Noronic Disaster on Toronto’s waterfront in 1949
Historic Victoria Memorial Square where Toronto’s first cemetery was located, now hidden amid the Entertainment District
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/01/09/victoria-square-in-torontos-entertainment-district-is-a-gem/
Visiting one of Toronto’s best preserved 19th-century streets-Willcocks Avenue
The 1930s Water Maintenance Building on Brant Street, north of St. Andrew’s Park
Toronto’s architectural gems-photos of the Old City from a book published by the city in 1912
Toronto’s architectural gems in 1912
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/12/04/torontos-architectural-gems-in-1912/
Toronto’s architectural gems – the bank on the northeast corner of Queen West and Spadina
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/12/02/torontos-architectural-gemsbank-at-spadina-and-queen-west/
Photos of the surroundings of the CN Tower and and the St. Lawrence Market in 1977
The St. Lawrence Hall on King Street
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/28/enjoying-torontos-architectural-gems-the-st-lawrence-hall/
Toronto’s streetcars through the past decades
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/03/26/memories-of-torontos-streetcars-of-yesteryear/
History of Trinity Bellwoods Park
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/09/the-history-and-beauty-of-trinity-bellwood-park/
A history of Toronto’s famous ferry boats to the Toronto Islands