Adrian Göllner

Swift, 2013

I was commissioned by Domicile Developments of Ottawa to create an artwork for the One3One condominium on Holland Avenue. Because of fire-spread construction codes, no windows were allowed on the north elevation of the building. The community association noted that this resulted in a prominent blank wall facing Wellington Avenue and asked the developer what could be done. I was approached by the architect, Christopher Simmonds, and I proposed a low-relief sculpture entitled Swift.

Swift is a line drawing of a Chimney Swift as it darts about in the evening sky. This bird was chosen as the subject of the sculpture as it is a species that has grown to have a mutually beneficial relationship with humans: we provide the chimneys that they prefer to nest in and they, in return, eat many mosquitoes. As One3One was designed and built to LEEDS standards, the bird stood as an appropriate metaphor.

The depiction remains somewhat abstract until the subject is discovered.

 

 

 

Back