An monumental digital installation has been dismantled after only 11 years as a signature piece of artwork at Lansdowne Park.
Moving Surfaces
and the trickling spire Uplift, both by Vancouver-based artist Jill Anholt, were installed at Lansdowne Park in 2014 at a total cost of about $3.5 million.
Moving Surfaces occupied a berm on with a view of the Rideau Canal. The undulating sculpture was 10 metres high and 50 metres long and is made of folded stainless steel and illuminated by an LED lighting system. The installation has been non-functional as a digital art piece since March 2024 because some electronic parts are no longer available and there’s no budget to restore it, according to a city report released last fall.
The
final Lansdowne 2.0 recommendation
included that Moving Surfaces be “respectfully decommissioned and removed.”
In the past 10 years, the city has frequently had cases of LED strings not lighting up and has had to repair these by replacing the LED power supplies, according to report. Moving Surfaces has served as a “meaningful element within the public realm,” but it has required maintenance.
“It is estimated that it has cost $5,000 annually since 2017 to maintain, replace and solve electrical issues. In 2019, due to a major lighting and software failure, a repair was required to make the Moving Surfaces functional. The cost to refurbish was $119,000.”
The report said it would take $700,000 to rehabilitate the lighting system.
During the Lansdowne 2.0 debates, Anholt proposed that she and her team could come up with a cost-effective solution to keep Moving Surfaces operational.
Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard presented a motion to city council on Oct. 29, saying Anholt had identified $15,000 to explore lower costs to re-imagine Moving Surfaces. City staff said that might not be enough and proposed a limit of $25,000. The motion passed.
Anholt said she received and reviewed a draft report by a City contractor in mid-December that concluded that 151 out of the 182 LEDs on the installation were still operational, but there was degradation of some of the components. That was not unexpected for an outdoor installation, she said.
The report said it was anticipated that outdated components could be replaced over time, but more testing of new components was necessary to ensure compatibility.
Anholt was optimistic about this news and left on vacation. She followed up with the City on about Jan. 5 and learned that her recommendations for removing the LEDs and storing them while Moving Surfaces was disassembled could not be followed because of time constraints.
During a Zoom meeting on Jan. 13, she said she learned that the final report said the LEDs would be left outside and a full replacement of all lighting components would be required.
Anholt said she was devastated by the news. She felt the piece was disassembled extraordinarily quickly. She has heard nothing about a funding for reinstating Moving Surfaces.
“The repair option is completely off the table,” she said on Wednesday.
The future for Moving Surfaces is “extremely uncertain,” she said. Full repair is out of reach under the current budget, she said.
Menard, who
opposed the Lansdowne 2.0 redevelopment
, confirmed that Moving Surfaces has been removed from Lansdowne’s greenspace area, along with 122 trees.
“I understand Jill (Anholt) has had some concerns about its removal and I have communicated that with staff,” said Menard on Wednesday. “Precautions should be taken wherever possible to decommission this in a way that respects the artist’s wishes to do this properly to reduce costs for reinstatement in the future.”
Menard said he heard from the city that there had been a meeting with Anholt on Jan. 13 “to discuss the rationale behind the removal, transport and storage.”
As work continues on preparing an approach and cost estimate for a potential re-installation, staff will continue to collaborate with Anholt “to ensure any proposed path forward is thoughtful, respectful of the artwork and represents good value for the community,” said the city in a message to Menard.
Moving Surfaces was
previously disassembled in 2017
and moved to make way for temporary seating for the Grey Cup. At time, Anholt said she would be “very surprised if it ever goes back, or can go back the way it was before.”
Menard said Capital ward has not been happy with having the artwork removed and residents have reacted negatively to the Lansdowne 2.0 final report that recommended the artwork be scrapped completely.
The Glebe Community Association was disappointed that Moving Surfaces is being decommissioned and that there are no plans to relocate it, said June Creelman, the association’s vice president and chair of its Lansdowne committee.
Moving Surfaces is “signature work of art, commissioned for Lansdowne Park at public expense,” she said.
“This is a waste of taxpayer money and means the total loss of an important artistic installation that has enhanced public enjoyment of Lansdowne,” Creelman said.
“We would urge the City of Ottawa to work with the artist to relocate Moving Surfaces to a new site within Lansdowne Park or elsewhere in the City of Ottawa.”
In the world of public art, maintenance is important and it was devastating to see a piece deteriorate over time, said Anholt.
“I feel it has been very mistreated. This was an important civic work for the city. It was disrespected,” she said.
“I have had other pieces that were perfectly maintained and will last for 50 years. Of course, you have to replace components. But that wasn’t very well considered.”
Related
Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
