TORONTO, Aug. 29, 2017 /CNW/ – Over the Labour Day weekend, Toronto’s original skyscrapers will be used as colossal canvases for the largest public art project of its kind undertaken anywhere in the world. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights, artist Aude Moreau will use lit and unlit windows on the top ten floors of the Toronto-Dominion Centre’s towers to form the words “LESS IS MORE OR” in hundred-foot-tall glowing letters. Building on the phrase made famous by TD Centre’s luminary modernist architect Mies van der Rohe, the ambitious artwork is presented by Cadillac Fairview and TD Bank Group as part of TD Centre’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
“Fifty years on, these towers have left an indelible mark on our skyline and helped transform Torontointo the world-class city it is today,” said David Hoffman, TD Centre General Manager. “This remarkable artistic endeavor reflects TD Centre’s bold vision and ongoing leadership in design excellence, innovation and sustainability – none of which would have been possible without the collaboration and support of our tenants and the community.”
The ambitious undertaking has required months of planning and preparation, as well as the help and cooperation of tenants across the complex. Five electrical contractors – Guild, Ainsworth, Symtech, Plan and ACML – donated their services to temporarily reconfigure the buildings’ automated lighting systems, while a crew of staff and volunteers will work to open and close blinds on over 6,000 windows across the TD Centre’s five towers.
“When Aude Moreau proposed the project almost a year ago, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to partake in a public art installation of this magnitude,” Andrea Barrack, VP, Community Relations and Corporate Citizenship, TD Bank Group. “TD has been a proud supporter of the arts in Canada for decades. The creative and innovative manner in which Moreau celebrates the architecture and legacy of Mies van der Rohe is just another example of how Canadian artists are continuing to raise the bar in contemporary art.”
The work is the latest of Aude Moreau’s illuminated skyscraper projects in major North American urban centres, which have included Montréal, Los Angeles, and New York. By playing with these superstructures’ typical, squared luminous emanations, she engages with architecture from within. Her works probe the connection between history and the contemporary, the social and the geographic, architecture and power.
By adding the word “or” to Mies van der Rohe’s statement on minimalism, Moreau invites the viewer to reconsider the values of modernism – to reinvestigate the architect’s famous words, to reconsider the values of openness and transparency in the modern world, and to complicate the phrase, leaving it open to a multiplicity of viewpoints. The work revisits the interpretation of the evolution of modernism and the possibilities of what is to come.
‘Less Is More Or’ will be visible each night beginning at 8:30 p.m. The artist will capture the striking visuals in photographs and video taken from adjacent buildings and a helicopter flyover. The best vantage points in the city for public viewing include Roundhouse Park, south of Bremner Boulevard near the Rogers Centre. The letters will be visible Saturday, September 2 to Monday, September 4, sunset to sunrise.
To learn more about TD-Centre, visit tdcentre.com
About Aude Moreau
Aude Moreau works and lives in Montréal. She graduated in 1992 from Université Paris VIII in Visual Arts before settling in Quebec in order to pursue her studies in scenography. Recipient of numerous grants, she has presented her work at events such as the Prague Biennale and Montréal’s Nuit Blanche. She has also participated in several exhibitions in Montréal, including at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal and the Darling Foundry, as well as in France, the United States, and Luxembourg. Her latest solo exhibition, ‘La nuit politique’ (2015) was presented at the Power Plant in Toronto, at the Galerie de l’UQÀM in Montréal, at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris, and the Casino of Luxembourg. Her work is part of numerous public and private collections. Aude Moreau is represented by Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran.
About Toronto-Dominion Centre
Toronto-Dominion Centre is one of North America’s largest business communities and home to 21,000 office employees. Due to its visionary design, unequaled size, and central location, this cultural landmark has played a significant role in the success of a generation of Canada’s most innovative and extraordinary business leaders. The TD Centre consists of six buildings: 66 Wellington Street West, 77 King Street West, 100 Wellington Street West, 79 Wellington Street West, 222 Bay Street and 95 Wellington Street West.
About Cadillac Fairview
Cadillac Fairview is one of the largest owners, operators and developers of best-in-class office, retail and mixed-use properties in North America. The Cadillac Fairview portfolio is owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a diversified global investor which administers the pensions of more than 300,000 active and retired school teachers. The real estate portfolio also includes investments in retail, mixed-use and industrial real estate in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.
Valued at more than $28 Billion, the Canadian portfolio includes over 38 million square feet of leasable space at 67 properties in Canada, including landmark developments, such as Toronto-Dominion Centre, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, CF Pacific Centre, CF Chinook Centre, Tour Deloitte, and CF Carrefour Laval.
SOURCE Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited
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