woocommerce-shipping-per-product domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/staging.esse.ca/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131complianz-gdpr domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /var/www/staging.esse.ca/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131A new sign looms large over the city of Vancouver. Seated high on a promontory in the city\u2019s Eastside is a 20-metre high illuminated crossword that spells out the words \u201cEast\u201d \u201cVan,\u201d joined by their common vowel to form a crucifix. Ken Lum\u2019s recent addition to the city\u2019s public art program, Monument for East Vancouver, is a large-scale replica of a well-known tag that has quietly circulated on sidewalks and buildings, t-shirts and tattoos in Vancouver\u2019s Eastside for decades. It is a signifier of those living in the Eastside, and is a commonly understood gesture of defiance against the city\u2019s more affluent centre of economic and political power to the west. Indeed, Lum\u2019s sleek facsimile pointedly faces west and, with its glowing LED lights, is clearly visible for miles. <\/pre>\n\n\n\nMonument for East Vancouver monumentalizes an unofficial marker of identity. By giving the sign a sanctioned status and permanent place, Lum gives authority to a symbol that has otherwise circulated fugitively. Though Lum was raised in Vancouver\u2019s Eastside, his decision to appropriate the sign is deliberately ironic\u2014in the sense of having multiple meanings\u2014rather than simply as a symbol of Eastside pride. Both irreverent and sacrilegious, Monument for East Vancouver points to the complex construction and assertion of difference, formed here along the lines of class and race, and is exercised across territory and public space. Since the launch of the artwork earlier this year, it has become immediately iconic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lum\u2019s new work joins an ever-evolving network of text-based public artworks throughout the city, as if a concrete poem has been overlaid on a map of Vancouver. Lawrence Weiner\u2019s cedar letters spell out \u201cPlaced Upon the Horizon (Casting Shadows)\u201d (1990) on the south fa\u00e7ade of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Kathryn Walter\u2019s poignant statement of resistance \u201cUnlimited Growth Increases the Divide\u201d (1990) flanks the fa\u00e7ade of the Del Mar Inn, Martin Creed\u2019s \u201cEverything is Going to Be Alright\u201d (2009) sits atop the roof of the Wing Sang Building in Chinatown, Ron Terada\u2019s \u201cThe Words Don\u2019t Fit the Picture\u201d (2010) stands on the south plaza of the Vancouver Central Library, and Liam Gillick\u2019s recent text wraps around two sides of the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, reading \u201clying on top of a building. . . the clouds looked no nearer than when I was lying on the street\u201d (2010). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While these texts may not necessarily be read together as one cohesive narrative, their accumulation speaks to Vancouver\u2019s reputation since the late 1960s as a centre for conceptually-driven contemporary art, as well as to the importance of language to an understanding of how a city is read as a text, or re-read in the case of these works. In this light, Lum\u2019s monumentalization of the Eastside\u2019s furtive symbol recasts it as an official and permanent mark of place.<\/p>\n