[PHOTO] Eleven photos of "LESS IS MORE OR" at the Toronto-Dominion Centre (#lessismoreor)

[rfmcdonald]

Last night, I went downtown to King Station to take in the latest high-profile public artwork by Montréal artist Aude Moreau, "Less Is More Or." The choice of the Toronto-Dominion Centre, and of the use of the Mies van der Rohe phrase "Less is more", and the use of lights on the night skyline, was inspired.

























This press release explains the work--its creator's intent, its scale, its viewability.

Over the Labour Day weekend, Toronto's original skyscrapers will be used as colossal canvases for the largest public art project of its kind undertaken anywhere in the world. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights, artist Aude Moreau will use lit and unlit windows on the top ten floors of the Toronto-Dominion Centre's towers to form the words "LESS IS MORE OR" in hundred-foot-tall glowing letters. Building on the phrase made famous by TD Centre's luminary modernist architect Mies van der Rohe, the ambitious artwork is presented by Cadillac Fairview and TD Bank Group as part of TD Centre's 50th anniversary celebrations.

"Fifty years on, these towers have left an indelible mark on our skyline and helped transform Toronto into the world-class city it is today," said David Hoffman, TD Centre General Manager. "This remarkable artistic endeavor reflects TD Centre's bold vision and ongoing leadership in design excellence, innovation and sustainability – none of which would have been possible without the collaboration and support of our tenants and the community."

The ambitious undertaking has required months of planning and preparation, as well as the help and cooperation of tenants across the complex. Five electrical contractors – Guild, Ainsworth, Symtech, Plan and ACML – donated their services to temporarily reconfigure the buildings' automated lighting systems, while a crew of staff and volunteers will work to open and close blinds on over 6,000 windows across the TD Centre's five towers.

"When Aude Moreau proposed the project almost a year ago, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to partake in a public art installation of this magnitude," Andrea Barrack, VP, Community Relations and Corporate Citizenship, TD Bank Group. "TD has been a proud supporter of the arts in Canada for decades. The creative and innovative manner in which Moreau celebrates the architecture and legacy of Mies van der Rohe is just another example of how Canadian artists are continuing to raise the bar in contemporary art."

[. . .

By adding the word "or" to Mies van der Rohe's statement on minimalism, Moreau invites the viewer to reconsider the values of modernism - to reinvestigate the architect's famous words, to reconsider the values of openness and transparency in the modern world, and to complicate the phrase, leaving it open to a multiplicity of viewpoints. The work revisits the interpretation of the evolution of modernism and the possibilities of what is to come.

My thanks to Paul for pointing me towards Roundhouse Park, to the southwest of the Toronto-Dominion Centre at the foot of the CN Tower, as a viewing point. The last two photos in the series were taken there, while the other nine were taken as I was either approaching or exploring the complex.

Comments

[robby]

A new skyscraper is being built in San Francisco, with the top floors dedicated to displaying photographs via banks of high resolution lcd panels.