City of Vancouver backtracks on relocation of 'iconic' Trans Am Rapture art piece

CBC

2 days ago

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The City of Vancouver is backtracking on its plans to relocate a large public art piece at the south end of the Granville Bridge.
The Trans Am Rapture, formerly known as Trans Am Totem, a towering sculpture made of crushed cars and an old-growth cedar trunk, was originally installed near Science World in 2015 as part of the Vancouver Biennale.
The city removed the installation in 2021 due to weathering and a pigeon infestation.
It had planned to put the sculpture back up — but now says it won't.
"The City of Vancouver is ceasing work on the reinstallation of Trans Am Rapture," said a news release Wednesday.
"The decision was made by the city manager's office following further consideration of the size and scale of the artwork in relation to the site. City staff have been asked to revisit previously assessed locations and explore potential new ones that can better accommodate the artwork."
The city made no mention of the public pushback against the 10-metre-tall piece.
Some locals said Trans Am Rapture didn't belong in a quiet neighbourhood.
"They're treating our neighbourhood as a storage locker for a piece of art they don't know what to do with," said Darlene Forst, who lives across the street from what was going to be the installation site and started an online petition against the move, before the city announced the pause.
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The city had told CBC News before announcing it would halt the relocation that public consultation is not a standard practice for individual public art installations.
"We recognize the subjective nature of art, and that not every artwork will be liked by everyone," the city said in a statement earlier this week.
An existing concrete pad at the Granville Bridge site, between West 4th and West 5th avenues, will be re-purposed for a smaller public art installation in the future, according to the city.
Trans Am Rapture became a permanent part of the city's public art collection with a $250,000-donation from local billionaire Chip Wilson.
Artists Marcus Bowcott and Helene Aspinall created the piece as a commentary on car culture and how urban life is compounding pressures on the environment.
"We acknowledge the work undertaken by all involved to site this art and remain committed to celebrating Trans Am Rapture — an iconic, local public artwork — as we work toward identifying a new location for its reinstallation," said the city.