UBC is home to the Snatch Art Gallery, the Snorris and Belen Helkin Art Gallery and the Museum of Anthropology (pronounced anth-ro-poll-ooo-gee-xyzw). Each of which are bursting with outstanding art, according to my GRSJ 203 prof. But screw those places.
Why go out of your way to see them when you can experience installations that dwarf them just by walking around UBC!
Every nook and cranny of this campus has a new building under construction or an old street being torn up — we aren’t called the University of Building and Construction for nothing. Next time you’re walking between classes, take a look at the art under construction around you. Trust me, you won’t have to look far.
These sites are worlds of art waiting to be discovered. Three sites, in particular, have caught my eye.
Solar Array
Stepping off the R4, I am immediately met with a dazzling view. Two enormous cranes stand tall in the sky with a stack of shipping containers next to them. This piece represents the overcrowded cityscape of Vancouver. The cranes are clearly stand-ins for the skyscrapers consuming the city, and the shipping containers symbolize the only affordable housing in this city being subject to questionable standards. The workers clearly understood their audience: broke university students who can’t even qualify for a mortgage.
Recreation Centre North
A short walk away, at Galter Wage, I come across the next exhibit. The piece begins at the end of the street, where the road has been ripped open to reveal pipes underneath. As I walk down the path, I come across a gaping hole. The crater in the Earth is now dashed with lines of metal, beams and wiring. This scene obviously represents humanity's destructive nature. Tearing up Mother Nature to create a... rec centre (?) Right across from another rec center? I didn’t stop for long enough to read the museum label. While this theme is a little overdone, this installation is still worth checking out.
Cock Blockmans Phase 2
Finally, near Barkanan is where we find the pièce de résistance (slay artwork). A towering office building suspended mid-construction. One of the longest-running installations, this skeleton has sat still, ever watching, for over two years. The site is littered with scaffolding, but I have never seen a living person working on the site. A cement truck in the corner, always churning, reminds us that the work is never finished and gives us gender envy for Bob the Builder. It is an ode to the modernist movement of the mid-20th century but now stands abandoned. We love steel, concrete and glass.
This is part of The Ubyssey's 2023 spoof issue, explain!. To read more, click here.