Vancouver�s Coolest Public Art: A-maze-ing Laughter

Where: English Bay, Vancouver, Canada

Photo: Ted Topping

Vancouver is still basking in the afterglow of the 2010 Winter Olympics and one of the best remnants of the Games is the public art that now decorates the city�s parks and buildings. For the next few weeks, Jaunted's Vancouver Embed Tuija Seipell of The Cool Hunter will be reporting on the best of the bunch.

A-maze-ing Laughter happily competes with The Meeting for the title of the most-photographed and most-posed-with among Vancouver�s coolest public art. Each of the 14 happy bronze-cast males is 8.5 feet tall (2.5 meters) and weighs 551 pounds (250 kilograms).

The sculptures were shipped from China, the homeland of the artist Yue Minjun, and then transported to the Morton Park Triangle at English Bay in the West End. After being lifted by cranes to their places in the circle, each figure was welded to its base.

Photo: Ted Topping

Minjun is currently one of the most influential contemporary Chinese artists, and this work marks his Canadian debut. As with the 14 men here, Minjun uses his own laughing face as the basis of many of his works. "A-maze-ing Laughter" is part of the Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale (2009-2011).

A cool feature for kids has been added to the Biennale�s educational program this summer. It is an interactive game called K-Crew Detectives: Case of the English Bay Bandits! Players gather clues about five stolen Biennale sculptures and match them with a thief. Those who catch all five thieves, move on to bonus questions. If they crack those, too, they get to pick up a K-Crew poster at the Vancouver Public Library.

Photo: Ted Topping

Have you spotted any other cool outdoor art in Vancouver or other cities that you think deserves to be featured? Let us know in the comments!

Jaunted

Select a Destination:

Vancouver's Coolest Public Art / Vancouver Travel / Street Art Travel / Art Travel / Tuija Seipell / → All Tags