At a traffic median in the busy urban intersection of Quebec
Street and Milross Avenue, near False Creek, in Vancouver, stands a
10-meters high, 11,340 kilogram sculpture of five stacked cars on
top of an old tree stump. The art piece titled “Trans Am Totem” was
made by Vancouver based artist Marcus Bowcott and unveiled in April
2015.
The cars included in the sculpture are: a 700 series BMW, a
Honda Civic, a Volkswagen Golf Mk1 Cabriolet, and a 1981 Pontiac
Trans Am on the top. All the vehicles were donated by a local
scrapyard. Bowcott had their engines, transmissions and drivetrains
removed to reduce their weight, and then mounted them on top of a
stump of an old-growth cedar tree, which was transported from
southern Vancouver Island. At night, the partially crushed
vehicles' headlights and tailights are illuminated by solar powered
batteries.
According to the artist, the materials and objects that make up
“Trans Am Totem” refer to the 150-year-old history of the place.
Before the introduction of heavy industry, this site was a
shoreline of tidal flats and massive forest with old growth cedars
and Douglas Firs.
Later, False Creek became an industrial zone of sawmills,
beehive burners and ringed with ever increasing collections of log
booms. Over the years the mills got bigger, the logs got smaller
and the second growth timber replaced the old growth. In the 1980s
the mills where removed and the area was gradually transformed into
its present incarnation of stadiums, high rise towers,
entertainment centers and pedestrian side walks.
“Trans Am Totem” reflects upon this site and it’s history
through references to old growth forest, logging and stacked,
manufactured structures.
