This $30k teeter-totter is Vancouver’s newest piece of public art
Calling the piece “interactive,” the City of Vancouver unveiled its newest public art installation at Sunset Park yesterday.
And while it may simply look like a teeter-totter of sorts, the city explained there’s much more to the piece.
This particular work, created by Germaine Koh, a Vancouver-based Canadian visual artist and the City’s current Artist in Residence, is part bus bench, part teeter-totter, and is appropriately dubbed SeeSawSeat.
The new installation “encourages people not just to talk, but to engage and work together,” the city said in a release. “Waiting for the bus is transformed from a passive pause into a modest social activity.”
Background
SeeSawSeat was one of three public art projects developed through the Main Street Urban Transportation Showcase (UTS).
As part of the Main Street UTS, an art plan was created which led to the commissioning of three public art projects installed along the Main Street corridor.
“Koh’s work is concerned with the significance of everyday actions, familiar objects and common places,” the city said. “Her projects in public space seek to create moments of real connection between people, and with the environment around them.”
The total cost of the fabrication and the installation of SeeSawSeat came to $30,580.
This includes the concrete footing and installation of rubber surfacing; base, housing, and bracket fabrication; bench and bumper fabrication and installation; structural engineering; signage; and documentation.
The funding for SeeSawSeat came from a combination of cash, courtesy of Transport Canada, TransLink, and the City of Vancouver.
For those who want to see SeeSawSeat in all its glory, the piece can be found near the south-east corner of Main Street and 51st Avenue East, near Sunset Community Centre.
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