Last week during the press preview AGO employees were still installing art in parts of the gallery. The most interesting scene I stumbled upon was of a gallery worker pulling one of the larger ship models through a second floor hallway -- as if they were a human tugboat -- surrounded by 4 or 5 very nervous looking AGOers protecting the precious and fragile ship as if they were presidential secret service agents ready to body block anybody that came too close. The ship was headed for the large Thompson ship model exhibit found just underneath the main entrance (in fact, oculus-like holes look down onto the exhibit from the main lobby).
The ships are part of Ken Thompson's collection of these rare artifacts, but the ship cases themselves also have a GTA connection as a local firm built them. When large building projects like Transformation AGO are associated with a Starchitect like Gehry it's easy to forget that they rely on locals to make their vision happen. The ship cases were built by Mississaga's kubkik along with Click Netherfield in Scotland, both specialists in museum and gallery displays.
Continue reading "Sailing the seas of ship cases"
The iconic staircase on the north side of AGO tower that wiggles its way up from the Walker Court up to the fifth contemporary gallery floor (officially named the "Allan Slaight & Emmanuelle Gussuso Staircase") is just about open to public use. Until then, the AGO is inviting the public to guess how many steps there are. It's a challenge, as the stairs are hidden behind all that polished wood and metal. The five closest guesses win the contestant a prize from ShopAGO. Email your guess to howmanysteps@ago.net. No entries accepted after the staircase opens!
In Toronto -- and Canada in general -- we're often accused of constantly looking to the outside for approval and validation of what we do. If the New York Times writes about something Canadian, well, then, everybody pays attention. I've often thought this is an overly cynical view to take and overlooks the value of an outside opinion that isn't as close the matter at hand. Yesterday architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff did indeed write about the new AGO in the Times and it's worth reading along with the extensive coverage in the Canadian press. Ouroussoff hasn't lived with the constructions fences or seen the building go up in daily increments and, one would assume, isn't emotionally invested in this renovation the way a local is (press or civilian alike). He's seeing it as any visitor would -- all at once -- and it would seem his thoughts aren't so different from what our own writers and journalists are saying. Some excerpts:
As the opening nears, there is lots being written about the AGO building and the collection within. Here's quick round-up of a few more articles published over the last few days.
