On the concrete benches that run along the David Lam Park portion of the Vancouver seawall, those who look closely will get a glimpse of the inner lives of the area's residents.
Red porcelain enamel tiles were embedded in the upper portion of the concrete back in 2005 for a public art piece by Canadian mixed-media artist Gisele Amantea, Concord Pacific and gifted to the City of Vancouver.
Amantea is known for creating large-scale site-specific installations that play with the existing architecture.
In cooperation with locals, Amantea photographed the interior spaces of the apartments, condominiums, lofts and seniors' housing in the surrounding neighbourhood during the spring and summer of 2004.
"These photographs were then arranged into a number of different sequences and appear as transparent halftone images layered on the red panels," she explains in a statement posted on the City of Vancouver's public art registry. "A total of 257 photographs appear in the work, 29 of which are repeated."
The details of the work are easy to miss - which is sort of the point.
"The work…was conceived to function both from a distance and in close proximity," says Amantea. "When approaching the artwork from a distance -- such as the water or walking along the seawall -- the work appears as a thin red horizontal line in contrast to a predominantly vertical architectural environment. In close proximity the viewer can see in a high degree of detail the various residences that compose the photographic aspect of the work."
She continues on to say that the porcelain enamel material was intentionally chosen to refer to the tradition of ceramic benches and tile work which can be found in both exterior and interior public spaces.
The red also contrasts the predominantly glass, steel, and concrete facade of the city.
This particular area of Yaletown eventually became home to another red public art piece, though a far more divisive one, 'The Proud Youth' by Chen Wenling which was recently removed.
