Even high art is not immune to the laws of gravity.
Artist Marcus Bowcott is in the midst of dealing with that universal reality, as his instantly recognizable art piece Trans Am Totem needs to come down from its perch near the Georgia Viaduct by September.
Featuring five cars stacked overtop a massive old-growth tree trunk, the Vancouver Biennale public art piece has been up near the intersection of Quebec Street and Milross Avenue since spring 2015.
That has to change by September. The Northeast False Creek plan is rounding into form, which means the viaducts are coming down and the street network will be reconfigured.
To that end, Bowcott and his wife and artistic partner Helene Aspinall aren’t necessarily surprised the totem may soon be toast. But the reactions they’ve got in the last three years have bordered on overwhelming: hatred, interest and curiosity from as far away as Germany, Israel and Seattle.
“We signed on knowing that it could be temporary, but some of these pieces do get purchased and donated to the city,” Aspinall said. “It’s just the reaction to it has been more than we thought. It’s time to sort of pause. We wonder if the people of the city want it to come down as well.”
City spokesperson Jag Sandhu told the Courier Wednesday that the original agreement with all parties involved — the city, Vancouver Biennale and Bowcott — was a two-year deal spanning 2015 and 2016. A two-year extension was then granted and the timeframe ends in September.
“That’s absolutely true and we’ve been lucky that it’s been up three years,” Bowcott said. “We’ve got no complaints about the city. They are doing their job.”
Now Bowcott turns to entertaining bidders. The piece is up for $250,000 US, and those costs will be split down the middle by Bowcott and Vancouver Biennale. He’s fielded offers from Vancouverites and others from across the province.
Bowcott figures it’ll cost somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000 to get the piece down intact, or $10,000 to turf it in the event no one buys it. Some of those costs will be covered by Vancouver Biennale, as was the case with the initial $100,000 price tag to build the piece.
Should no one buy it, he’ll repurpose the materials for another sculpture.
“I’m not so sure it’s going to come to that,” Bowcott said. “I think we’ll find someone who’s interested. There’s been a ton of interest in the piece. It’s blown me away actually.”
