Possibility [2013]
Aluminum, paint, 5 x 4 x 6 m
City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Oversized roadside signs along suburban routes advertise motels, restaurants and gas stations; they may reach the height of several stories while advertising little more than a snack bar. Their relationship to these sites is often disproportionate, which subsequently makes their sculptural qualities so appealing. The size of these arrows is not defined by the actual size of the site or object they refer to, it is rather the size of the roads and highways and the speed of passing traffic that dictates their scale. In this way the arrow can be read as the most reduced symbol of a cartographic annotation beyond scale. In the face of readily available high-definition satellite photography and street view maps, the arrow bridges the real and the virtual and creates an enhanced reality. With this sculpture the arrows do not single out anything in particular, but their density creates a place, while simultaneously signaling beyond it.
Credits: Michel de Broin
City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Lafontaine Iron Werks Inc; Toque Innovations (fabrication); Quantum Engineering Inc (engineer)