[PHOTO] Full Moon by Wendell Castle, June 2013

[rfmcdonald]

On this grey cool spring morning, I thought I'd share a photo from last June, when all was bright and warm.

I took this photo on the northwest corner of Yonge and Bloor, opposite the CIBC branch on that corner and just down the street from the Toronto Reference Library (visible through the tree). Some research revealed that this installation, Full Moon by American designer Wendell Castle, was erected in 1988.

What is it? The description in March 2012 by The Grid's Jacob Rutka is superb.

This is not your average, run-of-the-mill abstract art installation; this is public art at its most practical.

Imagine you’re alone, traversing the busy intersection of Yonge and Bloor, looking for the time, but you’re both watch-less and—egad!—phone-less. Stumbling upon Wendell Castle’s Full Moon, you’ll be happy to know that, aside from being one of the city’s most recognizable street level public art works it’s also… a clock! London has Big Ben and we have this—maybe not as glamourous, but useful all the same.

In all seriousness, Castle is an accomplished sculptor and furniture designer whose creations have been displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Regarding his work, Castle once said, “I’ve been very interested in art furniture becoming sculpure and having it accepted on that level,” so perhaps his public installation can be interpreted in the same light: as a kooky, oversized indoor clock that has migrated outside. Made with jagged lines using stainless steel, Full Moon wears its ’80s origins proudly and, though some may see it as an ugly, street-level eye sore, it might just be only a matter of time until it seems trendy again.