Literally! Industrial Cascade was installed on the east end of the Galleria Italia on Thursday, February 7 – and was dismantled and gone again by Friday afternoon.
The piece had such a brief life because it had been commissioned for that evening’s First Thursday. Visitors to the event saw the finished version, but Thursday daytime volunteers, staff and visitors had the fun of watching it take shape.
Here’s how it looked around 11 a.m. Its creator, visual artist Li-Hill is in the middle, with assistants Laird Henderson and Trevor Wheatley on the left and right respectively. (All photos, unless otherwise credited, are by Gallery Guide Val Fairclough.)
They were building it into the corner just outside the Henry Moore collection.
Over a quick latte in the Espresso Bar, Li-Hill explained how it all came about. “OCAD’s grad program in curatorial studies is curating tonight’s First Thursday, on a ‘block party’ theme – street art, hip hop art,” he said. “One of the elements they wanted was a piece of installation art out here on the Galleria.”
Perfect fit for Li-Hill, who has a Fine Arts degree from OCAD and a strong background in both street art and installation art. When OCAD put out the call, he answered and won the competition. “It’s an opportunity to meld the image-based work of my street murals with the more abstract, geometric approach of my installation art.
“In Industrial Cascade, I’m using the combination to attempt to decipher the rapid development of our age – 21st century capitalism – and its effect on the individual psyche and the environment.”
The installation exudes energy and nervous tension. Here, the “fencers” detail you can glimpse in the two images above.
By late Thursday afternoon, the installation was complete. That evening, it was one of the hits of the event. (Detail of photo supplied by Li-Hill, taken by Michael Tol.)
Would you like to see more of Li-Hill’s work?
- One way is at the click of your fingers. Visit www.li-hill.com.
- Another is at the click of your footsteps. Look down the alley immediately west of Lucky Moose Food Mart (393 Dundas West, near Beverley St.). The murals both sides of that alley were a collaboration with Alexa Hatanaka.