Photo: Skai Fowler
Footnotes - photo by Skai Fowler
1300 block of Pacific Blvd.
Yaletown Edge
Along north side of Pacific Blvd. on sidewalk between Homer and Drake Street
Gift
1994
Unpolished black Indian granite
Site-integrated work
In place
City of Vancouver
Concord Pacific
City of Vancouver Private Development Program
Text-based workYaletown Downtown South Quadrant
Description of work
Fifty-seven unpolished black granite tiles are recessed randomly into the sidewalk. Handcarved into each granite block are words or texts chosen for their specific reference to the site. "The shore is the line between the sea and the land and the shore is the mid-line in the life of the city... beneath these paving stones."
Artist statement

This public artwork is located on part of what was once a shoreline, now a boulevard. Beneath its paving stones are layers of shells, bones, and silence. The work is site specific as it is based on research and archival material, as well as writings about this north shore of False Creek from pre-settlement time onwards.

I have quoted from the City Archives, C.P. Railway Archives, anthropologists and poets to find words to sandcarve into 57 blocks of unpolished black granite. Set into pavers, they are like markers on a path (of time), an echo.

Although I feel the words selected are specific to this place, they are also general, sometimes evocative, the ardent hope they will bring out a smile on rainy day. A private moment in a public space.

Assistance from Anita Green, Melanie Boyle and Patti Lynes are gratefully acknowledged. 

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