Behind Vancouver’s Popular Sculptures

Here is a look into some of the background to some of Vancouver’s most popular sculptures in the city.

English Bay’s Engagement Sculpture

English Bay’s beach is the perfect spot to catch a sunset or even hangout with friends and have a beach day. It is also the home of Dennis Oppenheim’s Engagement Sculpture. This sculpture is almost 30 feet tall as it easily catches the attention of people walking past. Oppenheim took the rings and used them in a “Pop Art form, which is where everyday objects are “taken out of they domestic environment and re-conceptualized as monumental sculptures.” The rings are made of translucent plexiglass boxes, steel and aluminum.

(@admir23 / Instagram)

The Engagement was created in 2005 during the same time a same sex marriage debates were happening in Canada. Although Oppenheim has kept it quiet about the true meaning behind these rings, people are reminded that marriage is a balance of both parties with different backgrounds and romance.

Oppenheim has been doing sculptural work since the 1990’s and he has become known as one of the world’s most respected and influential artists,

The Digital Orca 

The Digital Orca is located in Coal Harbour right near the Olympic Cauldron and the Vancouver Convention Centre. It was created by Douglas Coupland a writer and visual artist from Vancouver in 2009.

The meaning behind the sculpture is it allows for the viewer to travel in time between the past and the future. 

(@seaside_signs / Instagram)

The Whale is pixelated in 3 dimensions. Coupland did this to create a unexpected sensation in the viewers mind. The Orca is made of powder coated aluminum on a stainless steel frame. It has been said that the colours and materials used was to represent the diversity those working near the waterfronts of British Columbia.

Now is your chance to take a look at these in person!

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