Client: Canada Goose
Location: Shanghai, China
Completion date: 2021
Project Team
Artist, Designer
Alex Fischer
Artist
Qavavau Manumie
Overview
Canada Goose commissioned ᐃᒻᒪᕕᒻᒥ Upon the Sea 海上 for their flagship Shanghai location. This 15′ x 15′ x .5″ piece was designed with the building facade in mind, as a way of creating a unique artist presentation, viewable from the store interior and exterior, alike.
A suspended sea plant landscape of where the ocean meets the land. A convergence. Fischer used line-work from traditional Chinese landscape painting, illustrations of neuronal bridges, and representational elements from Manumie’s drawing practice.
Shanghai is located where the confluence of two rivers meets the Pacific ocean. The piece is intended to be an embodiment of where different worlds meet referring both to Canadian culture in China, and Southern Canadian and Inuit cultures represented in this piece.
Goals
The primary goal was to create an artwork that thematically anchored the location's curation and was visible from the interior and exterior alike. The brand's art program aims to bring Canadian culture to international audiences by way of thoughtful artwork The piece should not greatly reduce the amount of natural light that entered the space.
Process
The team worked closely with the client's store design team and GC to retrofit the window frame to support a 500lb+ solid steel construction. The sculpture was created in four sections that were welded together onsite then finished with a matte white powder-coat. A custom-made hanging mechanism was integrated into the sub-structure for support. The installation process had to occur over-night before store opening. Work was completed remotely from Canada with local partners in Shanghai overseeing the team.
Additional Information
All stories send waves to distant shores. In Upon The Sea Manumie’s drawings of figures, scenes, and spirits have floated here to Shanghai. Designed by Fischer as a flat light loop suspended in air, this piece presents characters and landscape as both ordinary and extraordinary. Central to the plot is that we all are connected as part of the nature of others.