Toronto Nathan Phillips Square + Spirit Garden | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto

AGO has managed to move Moore's Large Two Forms elsewhere, so I think it will fall mostly to civic symbolism to make its defense.

It will depend on how willing these activists are in working together with the city to select an alternate location and not simply BLMTO-ing it until Tory acquiesces.
 
jje1000 said:
AGO has managed to move Moore's Reclining Forms elsewhere, so I think it will fall mostly to civic symbolism to make its defense.

It will depend on how willing these activists are in working together to select an alternate location and not simply BLMTO-ing it until Tory and Wynne acquiesce.
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I don't think AGO's Moore is nearly as seminal from a city-identity perspective as the Archer. Also we don't know about the machinations behind it all is - and it's a minuscule bona-fide city issue, I highly doubt Wynne will want to get her hands dirty with this one.

AoD
 
I don't see why The Archer would need to be moved or removed. Claiming it doesn't represent you is a facile argument - is every artwork supposed to represent the viewer in some way? Do we even know what Henry Moore meant by it, if anything? Could it be interpreted as expressing something contrary or opposed to the proposed turtle? Even then, wouldn't there be some merit in having both, for the sake of discussion?

Aside from political considerations, NPS has oceans of space for another statue or sculpture, even allowing for the event space.
 
It took a lot of effort to get Council to agree rehabilitate and to de-clutter NPS, in order to return it to its sleek sixties design. Whatever The Archer signified as a work of art, placing it in NPS signalled Toronto's aspirational embrace of modernity and progress. Esthetically, the sculpture is a perfect complement to Revell's daring design. Removing the original Peace Garden po-mo desecration was a huge improvement. Having come this far, we're now supposed to accept a re-cluttering of the square in the name of virtue signalling. Given our society's inability to say no to any group of a couple dozen really loud and angry people, the whole space seems destined to become a re-cluttered grievance monument garden. Perhaps we should rename it Festivus Square.
 
pman said:
It took a lot of effort to get Council to agree rehabilitate and to de-clutter NPS, in order to return it to its sleek sixties design. Whatever The Archer signified as a work of art, placing it in NPS signalled Toronto's aspirational embrace of modernity and progress. Esthetically, the sculpture is a perfect complement to Revell's daring design. Removing the original Peace Garden po-mo desecration was a huge improvement. Having come this far, we're now supposed to accept a re-cluttering of the square in the name of virtue signalling. Given our society's inability to say no to any group of a couple dozen really loud and angry people, the whole space seems destined to become a re-cluttered grievance monument garden. Perhaps we should rename it Festivus Square.
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Agree completely, until you got to virtue signalling. That, and most of what follows, is unnecessary IMHO.
 
Skeezix said:
Agree completely, until you got to virtue signalling. That, and most of what follows, is unnecessary IMHO.
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I guess the decision to call the city Toronto instead of York must have been an act of virtue signalling.
(if you are about to say cultural appropriation, hush!)

As to the sculpture itself - the notion of it should be welcomed as part of the square on principle - but the actual appropriateness and placement should be based on how it fits into the the square at large. It isn't a tabula rasa afterall.

AoD
 
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Hamilton will be getting a new sign in front of city hall. Look familiar?



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The only thing with Hamilton's idea is that no one will go and visit their sign after 6pm since their downtown core is a ghost town after that time. Heck, that sign would be lucky to get a group of visitors at anytime since it's right in front of the Main St highway.
 
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