Constellation - Toronto, ON
Posted by: 
ras258
N 43° 38.737 W 079° 23.368
17T E 629889 N 4833774
This chaotic mass of stainless steel is over the doors of 50 John Street.
Waymark Code: WMCMCR
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 09/20/2011
Views: 6
This sculpture is chaotic but it also seems to be alive. The sculpture is over the main entrance of 50 John Street, which is on the west side of John Street, opposite Metro Hall. The sculpture looks as if it is made up of pieces of torn and ripped silver metal and the pieces are randomly joined with no apparent pattern. There are so many pieces going in every direction your eyes are constantly moving from spot to spot as you take it all in.
This sculpture is on the front of 50 John Street, which is on the west side of John. The building is south of King Street West, north of Wellington Street West, east of Spadina Avenue and west of University Avenue.
This is one of the pieces of art (#2) featured on the City of Toronto's Art Walk - Toronto's Ourdoor Art Gallery.
Toronto Art Walk: (
visit link)
"Constellation
Albert Paley, 2002
The large, abstract stainless steel sculpture Constellation, is intended to convey the sense of dynamism, movement and diversity that the artist associates with the City of Toronto. Its forms impressionistically resemble a series of interconnected charged circuits, shooting stars, a cosmic explosion or perhaps some other celestial debris. The title, Constellation, has two definitions according to the dictionary, referring to groupings of stars in the night sky and also to a group of associated persons or ideas.
Positioned above the entrance to the building like a modern-day frieze, the work is static, although it does appear to be pulsing and radiating with crackling energies; a fitting analogy for the downtown district of Canada’s largest urban centre. The motif extends to the door handles of the building implicating the charged dynamic
of the participatory energies of all those who enter."