During 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver will look and feel very different with events, special activities, structures, gatherings, and art installations like Vectorial Elevation.
A part of the Cultural Olympiad, 20 robotic searchlights (each 10,000 watts) will shift, move, and glide through the skies above English Bay nightly creating silent patterns reaching up to the stars.
The designs that the lights will follow are submitted online by people around the world and will also be webcast nightly over the internet as well.
See how it was done in Mexico City’s Zócalo square in 2007 with this YouTube series: Part One & Part Two.
Vectorial Elevation is the first time the internationally celebrated work of art will be displayed in Canada and over a body of water. Considered one of the world’s largest interactive artworks, it is a part of CODE (the Cultural Olympiad’s Digital Edition) and was created by Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.
The spotlights themselves will be situated at Vanier Park and along Sunset Beach, covering an area of 100,000 square meters, and will be visible within 15 kms of Downtown. Their patterns will be determined by viewers around the globe as everyone from Vancouver to Vietnam — and everywhere in between — is encouraged to submit their designs and personalized messages through the website VectorialVancouver.net.
The nighttime light shows will begin February 4, 2010 and run dusk to dawn every night until the 28th.
I’d love to take this to a poll to see if you are excited about this art installation, based on some mixed comments I’ve seen come through on Twitter so far.
[poll id=”41″]
February 26, 2010 The following is a time lapse so it appears as though the lights are more frenzied, however they stream quietly through the sky as the noises of the city fade away with the city behind you.
Pop open those advent calendars and load up on low-grade chocolate, it’s December! Gearing up for holiday events filled with cheer, I’ll be profiling many more events, fundraisers, and activities for families.
Last year launched the first annual Gingerbread Competition and Charity Auction that saw top local architects and designers construct sweet creations that were then auctioned off for charity. They’re back again this year with a new set of competitors, baking up unique designs for a good cause.
The rules are pretty simple: entries must be made from edible materials and constructed at a scale to fit within a 16″ x 16″ box. Once the structures are built, breaking the traditional mold by letting go of conventional jujube and candy-cane forms, bidding takes place online (starting December 3rd) and is followed by a fundraising gala (December 10th) filled with entertainment and libations.
The houses will be judged by an all-star panel consisting of last year’s competition and auction winner Architect D’Arcy Jones, Architect Bill Pechet, Conceptual Artist Ken Lum, and Contemporary Art Gallery Director Christina Ritchie.
Participating gingerbread architects this year include:
McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture+Design
Romses Architects
Clash Collective
Designers at Large Design Consultants
Mallen Architecture Inc.
Eastside Design & Solus Decor Inc.
Measured Architecture
Busby Perkins and Will Architects
IBI Group (Richmond)
UBC SALA
Nick Milkovich Architects Inc.
The gala on December 10th runs from 7:00pm to 10:00pm at the Museum of Vancouver (1100 Chestnut Street) and photos of the gingerbread houses will be online a week in advance to accommodate bids.
Tickets for the gala can be purchased online for $20 and you will also be able to bid in-person at the event. All proceeds will be donated to Architecture for Humanity (Vancouver Chapter).
Crabtree Corner is a transition house in the Downtown East Side that specializes in helping single mothers in transition and their families. CEFA will be collecting clothing for these women and their children of all ages (babies to youth).
The donated clothing does not get re-sold either. It is cleaned and given to those in need along with a personalized note from CEFA’s junior kindergarten class (ages 1-5) to reinforce the lessons they have learned about caring and sharing.
You can drop off your clothing donations at any CEFA school in the region, from West Vancouver to White Rock. In Vancouver you can stop by their head office at 2946 Commercial Drive, which is the future site of their latest school, opening in 2010.
You can read the CEFA blog for updates (or follow @CEFAKids on Twitter) and I believe they’re at 92 items donated so far. Hopefully we can give them a bit of a boost to support the YWCA’s Crabtree Corner.
On Sunday December 6th starting at 1:00pm you can line up anywhere along the designated parade route (see map below) to catch a glimpse of community groups, singers, dancers, decorated floats and all the festive fanfare you can imagine.
Stop by the front lawn of the Vancouver Art Gallery (Georgia & Howe) from 11:00am until 1:00pm to enjoy the Coast Capital Saving Christmas Zone before the main event. Family activities there will include face painting, balloon art, a gingerbread tent, Santa letter-writing station, a performance stage and a donation tent for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society.
If you would like to volunteer to help out the Food Bank that day, Steffani Cameron (aka @smuttysteff on Twitter) is suggesting a tweetup to rally a group of helpers. You can find more information on the Vancouver Tweetup site.
Once the parade wraps up, there will be a meet n’ greet with Santa and the newly re-opened Robson Square Ice Rink (now the GE Plaza). Stop by from 3:00 until 5:00pm that same day for some free public skating. If you can’t bring your own skates, there are some available to rent on the cheap.
There will be road closures downtown to accommodate the route and staging areas on December 6th. I haven’t found the official list yet from the City although I do have some noted in my post about last year’s parade events.
The sea was turbulent and cranky as though it was annoyed at the sunrise for waking it too early on a weekend morning. Enjoying the start of our third full day in Punta Cana, I did a photowalk while John went for a run on the beach.
The beachfront is bustling in the morning with workers grooming the sand and removing washed-up seaweed, along with joggers, photowalkers like myself, and sunrise strollers just enjoying the early hours near the water.
During the steamy afternoon hours the beach is alive with characters such as: Dad who is more excited about creating the ultimate sandcastle than his child, woman standing up and rocking out to music only she can hear through her over-sized headphones, and the little Russian child playing in the sand singing a tune similar to Mary Had a Little Lamb.
The resort itself is as lovely as before and was decked out in red, white, and blue banners last Thursday in honor of all the American visitors. The lobbies have Christmas trees decadently decorated in bows, sparkling garlands, pearls and flowers.
Aside from our time spent at the beach, my husband and I have been having amazing meals together, evening strolls, cool swims, and insightful conversations that do not include the words “work”, “social media”, or “code”. Unfortunately John goes back to work tomorrow with the TEAM 1040 broadcast so I’ll have 4 hours on my own each morning for the rest of our trip.
I’ll be spending my “alone time” catching up on work and launching a few more contests on the site this week. I have some great things in the works for the coming month including a partnership with one of the largest holiday events in town and a few charity fundraisers.
Once John is off the clock each day, I’ll be disconnecting as well so we can head down to where the azure waves meet the white sand and enjoy the rest of our vacation.
