GESAMTKUNSTWERK

Westbank has built a practice around long-term commitments to artistry, sustainability and city-building. These commitments underlie an orientation towards projects like Woodwards, Vancouver House, Mirvish Village, Telus Garden and Oakridge – catalysts for larger change that go beyond the borders of the projects themselves. We are here to create. To provoke. To ignite. We are the vehicle for a new movement of cultural expression.

As the practice matures, we have become more ambitious. With every new project reflecting our commitment to the philosophy behind Gesamkunstwerk, or in our recent work the Japanese philosophy behind layering, the net effect is that our work becomes much more complex and far-reaching.

The core of Westbank’s mission is to create a body of work with a high degree of artistry that helps foster more equitable and beautiful cities. Westbank is active across Canada and in the United States, with projects including luxury residential, Five Star hotels, retail, office, rental, district energy systems, affordable housing initiatives and public art. Established in 1992, we are one of North America’s leading developers, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Seattle, Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and over 25 billion dollars of projects completed or under development.

Sign up to the Gesamtkunstwerk eMail Newsletter to receive a selection of consistently intelligent coverage of art, architecture and design culture.

Stay informed about the Westbank projects you're interested in

Philosophy
« Back To Home
March 06, 2014

Rodney Graham Work Gives Light To The Underbelly of Granville Street Bridge

Approved by the Public Art Committee of the City of Vancouver, a vast spinning chandelier by Abbotsford-born artist Rodney Graham will be installed underneath the Granville Street Bridge as part of the Vancouver House development.

The spinning chandelier will be a sight to see. Kinetic and in the shape of a giant faux-crystal candelabra from the 18th century, it will hang under the bridge’s northern viaduct, directly over Beach Avenue. Rotating slowly as it ascends, it will release and spin rapidly at a fixed time of the day, before coming back to its starting point at halfway to the road below.

This work is the centrepiece in a number of artworks set to transform unused public space in the underbelly of Granville Street Bridge, adding another facet to Vancouver’s civic landscape — and contributing an innovative piece to the concept of public art on an international scale.

Graham is part of the ‘Vancouver School’, a group well-known and well-regarded for its experimental approach to images and artwork. He also works in painting, photography, performance music and film, and is known for his ongoing photography series featuring inverted trees. This particular art concept pays homage to one of his previous works from 2005, entitled ‘Torqued Chandelier Release’, in which a 35mm film pictures a whirling 18th century chandelier.

Concept drawings for the spinning chandelier will be on display for public viewing at Westbank’s upcoming Gesamtkunstwerk exhibition.

The Gesamtkunstwerk exhibition opens to the public on March 22 through May 18. For more information, click here.

 

Share

Get on the list

Stay informed about the Westbank projects you're interested in