The Listening Tree, designed to mimic the greenery and light posts around Elgin Street, was officially celebrated Sept. 24. Brea Elford, Centretown NewsIn August, a new art piece quietly sprouted up near the intersection of Elgin Street and Gladstone Avenue. A month later, on Sept. 24, Ottawa-based artists Jesse Stewart and Matt Edwards joined local residents at St. Luke’s Park to officially unveil their multi-sensory piece called The Listening Tree.
The creative duo, known as Mixed Metaphors Design, was commissioned for the project in June 2015 as part of the City of Ottawa’s Public Art Program, which stipulates that one per cent of spending on municipal infrastructure projects must be allocated to public artwork.
The Listening Tree is the first community art piece Stewart and Edwards have completed together.
The five-metre-tall design features a series of stainless steel tubes banded together to mimic the overhanging trees that shelter the park’s path.
“It’s meant to be a modern take on the form of a tree,” said Edwards. “It’s very site specific. The form that it takes onsite is meant to enhance the already existing tree canopy that frames the entrance way to St. Luke’s Park.”
But unlike most trees, you won’t hear the sharp cracks of branches or ruffles of leaves on a breezy day. Instead, you may pick up the ranging tones of the structure’s smooth silver chutes.
“There’s a series of shorter pipes and some of them are slotted as well as capped on both ends. The wind catches on the ends of these slots and then fills up the pipes, vibrating the inside of them, which creates a tone,” said Edwards. He notes that the hums are intentionally quiet, so as not to disturb nearby residents.
The other half of the design duo, Jesse Stewart, said: “I hope that people who engage with the visual and sonic dimensions of the work will experience a sense of wonder and discovery.”
The project is the result of nearly two years of hard work. The task relied on extensive testing, engineering and the development of prototypes (or “protopipes,” as the artists put it).
Julie DuPont, co-ordinator of the city’s public art program, explained why the sculpture is rooted in St. Luke’s Park.
“It’s in a spot where pedestrians and park people will be able to appreciate it,” she said.
DuPont added that Mixed Metaphors Design was awarded this artistic opportunity as a result of their success in the city’s competition for designs at the beginning of 2015.
She noted that a jury considered community submissions on criteria such as artistic merit with the practicality of the piece in terms of users, safety and budget.
The project, budgeted at $55,000, included the costs of design, engineering, fabrication and transportation of the estimated four to five thousand-pound structure.
DuPont said that typically these funds end up funneling back into community enterprises.
For example, local business Mike Milligan Ironworks was involved in the fabrication of the piece.
The art installation was funded through the Gladstone Avenue Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project. The $11-million construction project included sewer, water main, sidewalk, road and other improvements in the area.
Edwards said that when The Listening Tree was installed, he and Stewart felt proud that their creation is now part of the fabric of the city.