Trans Am Totem

Trans Am Totem is a public art installation in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, created by sculptor Marcus Bowcott. Part of the Vancouver Biennale, the piece was unveiled in April 2015. Located at the intersection of Quebec Street and Milross Avenue, near False Creek, east of Vancouver's Downtown area, the sculpture incorporates stacked cars on top of a base made from a tree trunk.[1] It stands 10 metres (33 ft) high and weighs 11,340 kilograms (25,000 lb).[2]

Trans Am Totem
The sculpture, looking north (2015)
ArtistMarcus Bowcott
Year2015 (2015)
TypeSculpture
LocationVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Coordinates49°16′33.98″N 123°6′6.53″W

Background

Bowcott's fascination with crumbling cars started when working on tow boats on the Fraser River in the 1980s. Farmers used cars as breakwaters to stop the river banks from eroding, leaving the cars in various states of ruin. Bowcott attempted to record his impressions of the decayed vehicles in paintings, but was dissatisfied with the results. After teaching at Capilano University for 22 years, Bowcott started working on the Trans Am Totem project for the 2014–2016 Vancouver Biennale.[3]

Construction of the stack of automobiles took two years, with the assistance of Bowcott's partner Helene Aspinall and structural engineer Eric Karsh.[1] The Vancouver Biennale supplied 10,000 CAD of the construction and installation costs; the remainder were put up by the artist. After installing the sculpture, Bowcott launched a crowdfunding campaign that recouped 6,500 CAD of the installation costs.[3] Bowcott has stated that the piece is a "sculptural response" to the urban site. It is as much a "celebration" of our mobility and technology as it is a critique of "throwaway consumer culture".[1][4]

Materials
Detail of the vehicle stack

The sculpture incorporates five vehicles atop a wood base, made from a single tree. The vehicles are (from top to bottom) a Pontiac Trans Am, a BMW 7 Series, a Honda Civic, a Volkswagen Golf Mk1 Cabriolet, and a Mercedes-Benz.[4][5] The vehicles, donated by a local scrapyard, had their engines, transmissions and drivetrains removed to reduce their weight. A solar-powered electrical system was installed to power the vehicles' headlights and taillights. The cars are fixed to a steel column which rises through the centre of the sculpture. Bowcott also repainted the vehicles. The wooden base which supports the cars is from the stump of an old-growth cedar tree, which was transported from southern Vancouver Island.[6] The tree was separated into halves along its length to incorporate the central steel column.

See also

References
  1. Lindsay, Bethany (April 1, 2015). "Trans Am Totem, a playful monument to motion, rises in Vancouver". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia: Postmedia Network. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  2. "Trans Am Totem". Vancouver Biennale. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  3. "Trans Am Totem merges consumer culture with nature". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. March 31, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  4. Saulnier, Myriah (April 26, 2015). "Quirky New Totem Pole Raises Environmental Awareness". British Columbia Magazine.
  5. Griffin, Kevin (September 11, 2015). "Marcus Bowcott: Trans Am Totem puts cars on a pedestal". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  6. Siebert, Amanda (March 31, 2015). "Marcus Bowcott's public artwork Trans Am Totem under construction". Georgia Straight. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
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