It was delightful to get back to our wonderful Distillery District a few weeks ago to catch the installations for Spring Stations.
Usually, the display is known as Winter Stations, a series of installations along Woodbine Beach during - yes - winter. Things being how they have been, though, they decided to wait an extra season this year, and set it up at a different location.
It was a lovely sunny day, and, with everything being outdoors, I didn't have to think about needing to wear a mask. Bonus!
There are four installations, and I included an extra previous one just for fun! Here they are:
The first one was called The Epitonium, and was conceived by a group of artists from Iran. It's a kind of natural shelter, in the form of the seashell by the same name, and there is a remarkable resemblance.
It's striking-looking from every angle. You can see a little "entrance" here...
...and these young boys (just the right size!) certainly had fun goofing around inside while their families took pictures!
Next was the ARc de Blob, a very colourful piece from a combined Austria and UK group. As you can see, it deliberately resembles famous arches like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Marble Arch in London, and the Washington Square arch in New York.
It was designed to be an interactive experience. The title board shows a QR code that you could link to with your smartphone. Unfortunately, I wasn't "smart" enough to bring mine, so the interactive part will have to remain a mystery. Here's a view of the left side:
And a view of the right side. The candy-like colours are certainly striking. It looks like a gigantic cake.
This was the "extra" piece I mentioned, left in place after the Toronto Light Fest back in 2018. It's titled IT, and is still striking - even in daylight - in its resemblance to the Martian tripods from "War of the Worlds."
The next piece was called From Small Beginnings, created by a team from the UK. You can sit on the small bench and look up through the bright interior at an expanding view of your surroundings.
The boxes that ran around the outside of the sculpture contained evergreen saplings, and the artists encouraged visitors to take one with them and - in keeping with the piece's title - plant it!
Here's the view from the other side. There's also a bench here for people to sit on.
The final piece was a short distance from the Distillery District, on Parliament St. It's by a team from Germany, and is titled Throbber, after the 'spinning' computer icon that you see when a video or application is in waiting/buffering mode. Each colour of the rainbow in included in this side, and as with the previous piece, visitors are encouraged to sit on the benches.
The other, interior side, by contrast, is merely in different shades of grey. You can step inside, turn slowly, and see the shades get darker - or, if you like, by turning the opposite way, lighter!
Well, it was nice to have something like this to get me out and about. I'm still reluctant to risk much more of an outing than this, but it made me hopeful for more of a return to "normal" in the future.
