Jiigew
spmb (Eduardo Aquino & Karen Shanski) in collaboration with Brook McIlroy Architects & Planners
Narrative spoken by Patricia Ningewance and Rick Smith
19.81m (65') high
LED lighting, programming and sound; Corten steel and concrete
December 2011
Prince Arthur's Landing - Pier 1 and Pier 3
Jiigew are two sculptures inspired by shipbuilding that mark the waterfront landscape, giving a sense of place for those who approach the waterfront from the city and from the lake. At dusk the light pixels gently drop down the length of the sculpture like a waterfall, communicating by way of Morse code. Sound accompanies the lights, broadcasting a narration by Pat Ningewance and Rick Smith. Together the light pixels and the sound recount the mythologies, histories, and poetry around the theme of “water” that help to form the collective consciousness of Thunder Bay. - spmb
Jiigew, Ojibwe for "by the water," represents the City's first venture into public art with an exclusive focus on digital media, light and sound. Their design was achieved through a collaborative process between the artist team spmb, and the design team of Brook McIlroy Architects & Planners.
The Beacons are fabricated from Corten steel and house the lighting, sound and programming developed by the artists. A cascading system of LED lights communicates a narrative in Morse Code, which is also broadcast from speakers at the Beacons’ base. The illumination comes into effect after dusk.
The narrative prose, spoken in English and Ojibwe (western dialect) concentrates on humanity’s interaction with water. The content was produced after extensive research into locally relevant sources of cultural, historical and geographical information.
The Beacons are destination points at the end of the two piers which remain strongly connected and visible to the community by land, air and water. A fusion of art and architecture, Jiigew are iconic, signature pieces on the city’s waterfront.
We know that artworks that make it into the history of art cannon are the ones that have the capacity to translate a current cultural condition into an art expression. The Beacons project does that by integrating the sculpture into the site, triggering a dialogue with the landscape and the people, but also by integrating digital technologies into the sculptural object, and through light and sound it does make the sculpture animated and alive. There are no other examples in Canada of a piece of artwork, in public space and of that scale, that achieves all of that at once. - spmb
Photos by spmb
