Finalists Named for Winter Stations 2022 Art Installations on Woodbine Beach – Beach Metro Community News

The six art installations that will make up the Winter Stations 2022 exhibit along Woodbine Beach have been selected.

These are ENTER-FACE (from Turkey); Wildlife Warden Chair (Canada and France); LA RUCHE (from Canada); S’winter Station (Ryerson University); Introspection (University of Toronto); and One Canada (University of Guelph).

The winter resorts began in 2015 as a way to showcase the beauty of the eastern beaches and make it a destination point for outdoor art installations during the winter. Artwork is installed at lifesaving stations along Woodbine Beach, and each year an international competition receives entries related to that year’s winter resort theme.

In 2021, the winners had been selected for the art installations but they were not installed during the winter on the beach due to COVID-19. However, some of these were later displayed along Queen Street East in the summer thanks to The Beach BIA.

Considering all the world has been through over the past two years, the theme for Winter Stations 2022 was Resilience.

“Designers were asked to celebrate people’s ability to withstand and navigate through difficult and unprecedented times,” said Winter Stations’ press release announcing the 2022 winners.

“This year, artists were invited not only to reflect on all the ways people had to be resilient, but also how people channeled that resilience, whether through communities, movements, support networks and more.”

This year’s winter resorts will take place along Woodbine Beach beginning on the Family Day long weekend in February and continuing through the end of March. This is, of course, “pending any unforeseen COVID restrictions”.

Winter Stations founder Roland Rom Colthoff said he was “delighted” that art installations are back on Woodbine Beach this year.

“It’s great to be able to offer Torontonians a distanced and safe event to look forward to this winter. Whether this is your first time seeing the exhibits or coming back for another year, we hope you enjoy the installations that artists and designers around the world have worked so hard to create,” he said. in the press release.

With resilience as the theme, this year’s winter resorts also recognize the impact of the pandemic on Toronto’s east end and in particular shelter residents. One of the facilities has been dedicated to the women and gender diverse people who have lived at the YWCA’s temporary emergency shelter on Queen Street East at the beach for most of last year and well into 2020 .

“After reviewing the winning stations, residents and staff (of the YWCA emergency shelter) were drawn to THE HIVE, because of its vibrant colors and the way it represents resilience and hope in the world. building community in unprecedented times,” the press release reads.

For 2022, Winter Stations will also expand its footprint beyond Toronto. The Wildlife-guard Chair installation will make its debut in early February at Hamilton’s Winterfest on Pier 8, before heading east to Woodbine Beach for Family Day.

Winter Stations was first launched by RAW Design, Ferris + Associates and Curio in 2015. Over the years it has become extremely popular with local residents and beachgoers.

The sponsors of Winter Stations 2022 are The Beach BIA, Minto Communities, Sali Tabacchi Branding and Design, Meevo Digital, RioCan, Demirov, Bara Group, Urban Capital and Waterfront Shores Partners, consisting of Cityzen Group, Tercot Communities, Greybrook Realty and the city of Hamilton.

Here is more information on the six winning installations for Winter Stations 2022:

ENTER-FACE by MELT (Cemre Onerturk and Ege Cakir, Turkey)

Pandemic times have changed our habits in multi-scalar aspects, but above all they have affected the way we perceive the world outside of us. More explicitly, it moved our communication with people, interaction with the environment, and perception of our experiences through a single surface: the digital screen. By offering isolated people a new version of coexistence, these screens have not only made it possible to overcome this difficult period, but have also become inseparable elements of life as mobile “interfaces”. The “enter-face” project aims to reveal the dramatic influence of these screens, thus presenting a spatial atmosphere that brings people together through a common visionimage while physically isolating them. It features two dark boxes with gaps apart so people can tuck their upper bodies in and stay detached from each other. Inside the boxes, a textured transparent surface is placed through which the distant visitors, who have now become a group of spectators, watch the life outside the box as if they were watching a moving image together without end on a screen. Wildlife guard station (Mickael Minghetti, under the direction of Andrés Jimenez Monge, France and Canada)

Inspired by the northern cardinal bird – a year-round species found in Ashbridge’s Bay Park – the resort seeks to introduce visitors to Toronto’s wildlife. The diversity of species taking refuge in the dense urban environment is both remarkable to observe and critical to preserve.

THE HIVE (Kathleen Dogantzis and Will Cuthbert, Canada)

The resilience that communities have witnessed in the face of difficult and unprecedented times can be found in honey bees. Honey bee colonies are mostly made up of worker bees whose greatest measure of resilience is maintaining hive temperature throughout the cold winter months. This is achieved by adapting worker behavior to use the energy of stored honey to generate body heat in a tight hive group. The challenge of keeping the hive warm is met by a colony-level response – much like the collaborative community-level response that is mounted in the face of adversity. The installation is designed with a hexagonal structure reminiscent of a honey bee colony, and it highlights the color variation of honey, which is the result of various floral resources. Individuals are invited to experience the visual diversity of a bee hive and work together to form a collaborative hive group at the community level.

S’winter Station (Evan Fernandes, Kelvin Hoang, Alexandra Winslow, Justin Lieberman and Ariel Weiss, led by Associate Professor Vincent Hui, Department of Architectural Sciences, Ryerson University)

The forces of nature are relentless. Like the snow falling from the sky and the shifting sands of the beach, the pavilion embraces the local conditions of wind, snow and sun. Following these directions of force, the wings of the pavilion embody movement by harnessing snow and mitigating high winds. The beach towels were formed into dynamic concrete panels with variable openings. These panels control the amount of light and snow allowed in, while creating unique views to the outside. Together, the panels and fenders protect users and encourage them to interact with their environment. Where the first aid station, beach towels and marine ropes are more frequently used in the summer, the pavilion achieves resilience by employing these objects in the winter. The pavilion acts as a shelter for the community where winter conditions are celebrated by harnessing and adapting to natural forces.

Introspection (Christopher Hardy, Tomasz Weinberger, Clement Sung, Jason Wu, Jacob Henriquez, Christopher Law, Anthony Mattacchione, George Wang, Maggie MacPhie and Zoey Chao, led by Associate Professor Fiona Lim Tung, John H. Daniels School of Architecture at University of Toronto, Landscape and Design)

In keeping with this year’s theme of resilience, we have chosen to base our design on the emotions felt throughout the past two years of quarantine and isolation. Playing with the idea of ​​reflection, we use mirrored walls to make visitors the subjects of our bright red pavilion, titled Introspection. While the lattice roof allows the sun to illuminate the interior and its visitors, the red lifeguard tower stands adamant in the center of the pavilion, reminding us of the inherent stability within us. By highlighting the presence of the subject, we hope to encourage introspection into their own emotional resilience in the face of their own reflection. From a distance, Introspection seems to float on the horizon of the beach. Behaving like a visual constant in nature, Introspection and the Rescue Towers remind us that no matter what the whirlwinds of life may bring, they endure it all and resist adversity.

One Canada (Alex Feenstra, Megan Haralovich, Zhengyang Hua, Noah Tran, Haley White and Connor Winrow, led by Assistant Professor Afshin Ashari, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph)

Indigenous peoples in Canada are an inspiring example of resilience because of their ability to withstand adversity and persevere through generations of oppressive colonial policies. Historical injustices persist, including the effects of the cultural genocide of Canada’s residential school system. Here we symbolize bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through coming together. Accomplished through the support of the seven teachings of the grandfathers, represented by the seven rings of the installation, which originated with the Anishnabae peoples, transmitted from generation to generation and which ensure the survival of all indigenous peoples: wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty and humility, and Truth. Orange represents the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, and the reality that supporting non-Indigenous peoples, as Indigenous peoples reclaim their right to self-determination, will strengthen relationships and begin to right historical wrongs. Orange is displayed in the strings where the pattern pays homage to the making of drums, where the strings were woven to honor the culture. The flow of facilities to the aid station reinforces the strengthening of the relationship and that the protection of Canada is based on the unity between people. We aim to symbolize the movement towards a new relationship, a relationship based on mutual respect that honors treaties and Indigenous rights. The road ahead is long and non-linear, but we are committed to making the journey together. For more information on winter stations 2022, go to https://winterstations.com/

---