Ontario Construction News staff writer
Toronto-based artist John Notten has taken waste construction material donated by EllisDon and created a new floating art display near Ontario Place.
Notten reached out to EllisDon last year and received waste materials from a recent demolition at the Grenadier Square project site in the city.
Six months later, he premiered his project, Over Floe, in this year’s ArtWorxTO: Year of Public Art 2021-22. It is located at Ontario Place in the downtown.
ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021–2022 will celebrate Toronto’s exceptional public art collection and the artists behind it.
The initiative will support artists and new artwork that reflects Toronto’s diversity and creates more opportunities for the public to engage with art in their everyday lives, across the whole city.
Major projects and commissions will be displayed from fall 2021 to fall 2022.
Over Floe, located floating at Ontario Place is a piece that stands out. Five icebergs are floating in the harbour – they are described as hybrids between the natural and constructed world.
The puzzle of these strange geometric forms is revealed only when experienced from different perspectives. Approaching from one direction, they are simply icebergs. However, in walking around them to the other side, each of the five structures reveals a contrary façade. One is that of a suburban house, another a school, a bank, a factory, and a truck.
“EllisDon is actively working to reduce our carbon emissions, reduce our impact on the environment and contribute to the fight against climate change,” reads a notice on the company website.
“Educating our people and our industry on the importance of carbon reduction and resource efficiency is important to us at EllisDon and we are proud to have helped bring John’s project to life.”