Two empty chairs sitting in the sun. This photo is only a half truth; it suggests that the beach was sunny but empty yesterday when I took the photo. Sunny yes, empty no.
Back in the winter of 2015, I discovered the first “Winter Stations” event on a day when the temperature was -20C. There weren’t many people there that year! In contrast, yesterday was a beautiful and unseasonably warm February Sunday. Temperatures hit the double digits and lots of people come out to take advantage of the weather. It was also the first weekend of the 2017 version of ‘Winter Stations’. Although the installations officially opened today, all but one of them were completed and ready for the public yesterday.
below: One of the installations is “North” which was designed by studio PERCH in Montreal. Yes, it’s Christmas trees hung upside down. They are prickling to walk between. This year there seems to be a recycling and reusing theme in a lot of the installations. At least I hope these trees weren’t cut down specifically for this project.
below: Another installation is “Collective Memory” designed by Mario Garcia (Barcelona Spain) and Andrea Govi (Milan Italy). People are encouraged to leave messages in the bottles.
below: Paper is provided as are the bottles. The walls are constructed of horizontal empty plastic water bottles with the openings all on the inside of the structure.
below: The sun shining through the plastic bottles makes for some interesting effects.
below: Like most of the installations, “Collective Memory” encloses a lifeguard station.
below: The installation that wasn’t ready yet is “The Beacon” designed by Joao Araujo Sousa and Joanna Correia Silva (Porto Portugal).
The installation in the background in the above photograph is “BuoyBuoyBuoy” designed by Dionisios Vriniotis, Rob Shostak, Dakota Wares-Tani, and Julie Forand (Toronto Canada).
below: One of many photo ops!
below: Notched ovals made of wood and clear plastic were used to build this installation. The wood pieces were either painted white or covered with silvery reflective material.
below: More reflections, this time in “The Illusory” designed by a group from Humber College School of Media Studies & IT, School of Applied Technology.
below: Someone has already written on (scratched?) the surface.
below: “The Illusory” in front, “Flotsam and “Jetsam” behind, and lots of people in between.
below: “Flotsam and Jetsam” was designed by a team from the University of Waterloo. It consists of cubes made of wire cages. The cages on the bottom are filled with empty plastic bottles of different colours and shapes.
***
The Winter Stations will remain until the 27th of March.
as I walk Toronto 
Cool! I didn’t know they were doing the art stations at Woodbine again this winter. Last year was the first time I attended this, and quite frankly was underwhelmed. The brutal cold might have had a lot to do with it.
I’m assuming the stations will be there until March break again? I should plan a return visit … preferably on a nice day.
I think that the installations are there until the end of March…. I should have included that in the post. I’ll research it and add the date. You’re probably not the only one wondering that. Thanks!
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