Geyser for Hillcrest Park
by artists Vanessa Kwan and Erica Stocking Stocking
Artists Erica Stocking and Vanessa Kwan have crafted a “geyser” for Hillcrest Park that erupts water 15-20 feet in the air. This public artwork is inspired by Old Faithful and other natural water spouts arising from geological pressures under the earth’s surface. It will be an unpredictable entity that, not unlike a geyser in the natural world, seems to operate according to its own mysterious rhythms.
There have long been rumours of underground water at the Hillcrest site, but Hillcrest Geyser arises from other hidden sources and pressures – the infrastructure of the new green initiatives of the building’s water recycling system in the building. In particular, the Geyser goes off when clean water is needed to supplement the water in the recycling system that is used for sanitary and irrigation needs in the facility. A “warning” spray signals the start of the spray – water will begin in a slow build up to 3 – 5 feet, then drop off in preparation for the full column of water. Learn more and view images here.
To inaugurate this new public artwork commissioned by the City of Vancouver springing a leak on the northernmost berm in Hillcrest Park we invite you to your picnic and we’ll supply the sundaes for an:
Ice Cream Social Celebration & Inauguration
DATE: Saturday, September 15, 2012
TIME: Celebrate from 12:30 – 2:00 pm, Inauguration at 1:00pm
LOCATION: Hillcrest Community Centre (East of Hillcrest Centre on the grassy knoll at the corner of Ontario and Peveril Streets.)
Invited guests include:
The artists and project staff, Mayor & Council and Park Board Commissioners, Riley Park Association representatives and YOU!
* Join and discuss the event on Facebook<>
* RSVP to help us ensure there is enough ice cream
This work creates a civic “natural wonder” that calls attention to water usage and is attentive to the green initiatives of the building. As such the wok occupies a grey area between a natural wonder and a civic structure. It is hoped that the Geyser will offer a sense of communal wonder and over time gain symbolic resonance, like the story of the underground streams in the area, as a reminder of what has come before and a link to the systems at work beneath the surface.
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