Thursday, June 9, 2011

"AB-1"


This large tapestry (15' x10'), hanging in a stairwell at the Macdonald block, was totally in the dark during my tour but I like the way the flash has popped it so here it is. The artist, Canadian Micheline Beauchemin, was well-known for her large-scale tapestries and her use of unusual materials and for this one used woven materials, phosphorescent acrylic fibres and transparent acrylic beads. I plan on returning next week to catch it with its proper lighting. A total of 30 art pieces were commissioned for the building and installed in 1968 giving us a real snapshot of the art scene of the time.

12 comments:

  1. I like this shot, but I think it will be nice to see the tapestry with another lightning because there's so much to see here! ;-)

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  2. What a great opportunity you got to tour this building with no people around. This tapestry is stunning!

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  3. Wow, it looks like a city skyline. It will be interesting to see how it looks with its "proper" lighting, but I have a feeling it can't beat the way your flash "popped" it.
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  4. I'm particularly fond of tapestries as art. I like the lighting here but would also like to see it in better light.

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  5. As Kay says, I read this as a night skyline. I wonder what the artist intended.

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  6. OMgosh that is beautiful.... I would love to see this in person. It has my favorite colors, turquoise and purple.
    What is this MacDonalds Block, is it a museum?

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  7. Jack - One account I read said that she meant it to suggest a cathedral window and another that it was to suggest new growth after the ice age.

    Regina - It is a huge gov't office building - over 900,000 sq ft covering 2 city blocks.

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  8. Ok, you had me from the start. I had no real idea what it was. First take? Night time building with colored lights. I was way off!

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  9. The colors are so rich and beautiful.

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  10. Clever, I thought it was a real night shot at first

    Chrissy

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  11. I'm with Kay, Jack, Birdman and Chrissy. I was convinced I was looking at a night/cityscape! Cool result.

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  12. I really like this!
    Thanks for sharing.

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