Web Talk
ROM racks reflect museum
Posted on Friday, Jun 13, 2008
The Annex Guardian
http://insidetoronto.com/news/Annex/article/49991
June 12, 2008 03:13 PM
The Royal Ontario Museum’s latest artifacts may not be as ancient as the rest of their exhibits, but they’re considerably more functional.
The ROM unveiled 11 new artistic bicycle racks along Queen’s Park Crescent, each of which represents an exhibit or specimen found inside the museum. The various designs include a Grecian urn, a trilobite, a sea monster and a rust-coloured zebra head.
The pieces were designed by Toronto artists Jack Gibney and Phil Sarazen, whose steel bicycle stand sculptures were previously installed in Parkdale and North Toronto.
ROM CEO William Thorsell said he first spotted the unique street art while in Parkdale and knew instantly that the project would be ideal for the ROM.
“We were planning to put bike stands here anyway because we want to offer bicycle parking for people who want to bike to the museum,” he said. “When I saw the ones they had in Parkdale, I said ‘we’ve got to try that.’”
Gibney and Sarazen examined the ROM’s galleries, vaults and gift shop for inspiration and wound up coming up with more than 30 designs. The first 11 have been installed, with a 12th expected later this month. Thorsell said the ROM may still use some of the other designs.
“We’re going to study how much these get used, but it’s definitely possible that we might install more along the street,” he said.
Gibney and Sarazen built the bike stands out of a small space on Dufferin Street, using photographs of their subject matter as models. Each stand is unique, making their construction a time-consuming task.
“It’s a long process, but we want to find that combination of reality and creating something that’s emotional and artistic,” he said.
He added that he and Sarazen enjoy the challenge of creating individual bike stands that offer the same functionality as the traditional racks while making them more in tune with a specific community.
“People want to have something that reflects where they are in the city,” he said. “Having our work at the ROM will definitely make what we do more visible.”
Toronto Councillor Adrian Heaps, chair of the city’s cycling committee, said the city was happy to see some creativity being exercised when it comes to street furniture. He added that the city would be looking at similar projects when it comes time to replace some of Toronto’s existing bike racks.
“It makes an area more pleasing esthetically when you have something that’s not just functional,” he said. “When you do something specific like this for a community, it gives the people in that community more ownership of the space.”
Heaps said that if local community organizations were willing to partner with the city, as many as 1,000 unique bike stands could be installed across the city over the next few years.
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When we first got a tip from Andrew Hunter that “someone has installed a new
type of bike post along Yonge north of Lawrence,” we were concerned that it
might be the vanguard of the Coordinated Street Furniture onslaught of mass-
produced uniformity. When we went down (yes, down) to visit the area, however,
we were quite relieved to discover not Kramer-designed brontosaurus ribs but
elegant, artfully crafted flourishes of metallic whimsy. Inspired by a similar
project in which psychiatric survivors designed bike stands for the curb in front of
the Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre (PARC), the Yonge Lawrence
Village BIA commissioned two of the artists behind that project, Phil Sarazen and
Jack Gibney, to fashion sixteen pieces, each featuring “a different aspect of
community living.” Studded into each block on both sides of Yonge Street north
from Lawrence to Yonge Boulevard, they succeed in being everything that
Astral’s street furniture is not, and should serve as an inspiration to all
neighbourhoods and BIAs as to what is possible when you’re willing to invest in
your community rather than sell it out.
www.fairlawnneighbourhoodcentre.com/docs/Bike%20Rack%20Feedback.pdf
Issue # 128
April 2007
Welcome to Cyclometer, a monthly newsletter to keep cyclists informed about cycling issues and programs in the City of Toronto.
Bike racks get artistic touch
Thanks to the Parkdale Village Business Improvement Area and the Parkdale Liberty Economic Development Corporation ten eye catching bike rack sculptures were installed by City staff on Monday April 16.
Local artist Phil Sarazen and members of PARC designed the racks while members of the Meeting Place, an adult drop-in centre operated by St. Christopher House, worked their magic with metal and a blow-torch. View the bike rack sculptures already in place.
ROM reveals city’s coolest bike racks
Posted on Thursday, Jun 12, 2008
National Post, June 11
The Royal Ontario Museum has again increased its neighbourhood footprint, unveiling a set of bike stands modeled on artifacts within its vaults.
A bronze zebra head, the face of Queen Nefertiti, a German coconut cup and a Grecian urn were among 11 bike rack sculptures that caught the attention of pedestrians and cyclists along Queens Park Crescent today. A 12th and final bike stand, featuring a Chinese two headed bird, will be installed at the end of the month.
“[The stands] are playful public art, but it’s rooted right into the DNA of the museum beside it,” said ROM CEO William Thorsell, who in April helped unveil a makeover of nearby Museum Station in the ROM’s likeness.
According to Mr. Thorsell, the ROM has plans to add even more elements to its surrounding plaza that will bring “more of the museum out into the city.”
The decorative bike rack sculptures were designed and created by two Toronto artists inspired by the museum’s artifacts. Artists Jack Gibney and Phil Sarazen took more than 1,000 photographs of the ROM’s collections to design 36 proposed sculptures, which were narrowed down to a final 12 by museum curators.
“I had a chance to dance with the masters and look at the designs of people who were the best artists thousands of years ago,” said Mr. Sarazen, who came up with the idea for the racks.
The galvanized steel artistic bike racks, which area cyclists were quick to utilize, are part of the 1,000 new stands the city plans to install over the next three years, said Councillor Adrian Heaps (Scarborough Southwest), chair of the city’s cycling advisory committee.
“We need more bike storage facilities across the city so we said let’s look at something that’s beautiful and a work of art as well as a practical application,” said Mr. Heaps, as he hooked up a bike to the skull of a saber-toothed mammal.
Artist Phil Sarazan, Councillor Adrian Heaps, artist Jack Gibney and ROM CEO William Thorsell unveil the new bike racks today. Photo by Mark Blinch for the National Post