14 STATIONS/QEW – Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH): Hamilton, Canada. 1981©
Three years of work culminated in a one man show of sculptures at the AGH. It started as a proposal for a painting exhibit but built up to something much, much bigger than I or the curator expected. Mr. Glen Cummings was not please at first but allowed it to happen anyway. For which I was eternally grateful.
As aside, Hamilton is an industrial city some 60 kilometres from Toronto also known as the Steel Town or by it’s more colloquial name – Hammer Town. At one time it was Canada’s Pittsburg, supplying the automotive and other industries with steel, a site with enormous chimney stacks and giant smelting ovens that worked 24 hours a day spewing smoke and soot hundreds of kilometres from its source. Perfect for what I had in mind…which was to imagine – in three dimensions, a sort of nihilistic future of an industrial city after it was abandoned – lets say a century hence. Perhaps after a form of destruction, pandemic, a war…or some such event, where it went through a decline leaving only traces of itself very much like Oradour-sur-Glane.
As aside, Hamilton is an industrial city some 60 kilometres from Toronto also known as the Steel Town or by it’s more colloquial name – Hammer Town. At one time it was Canada’s Pittsburg, supplying the automotive and other industries with steel, a site with enormous chimney stacks and giant smelting ovens that worked 24 hours a day spewing smoke and soot hundreds of kilometres from its source. Perfect for what I had in mind…which was to imagine – in three dimensions, a sort of nihilistic future of an industrial city after it was abandoned – lets say a century hence. Perhaps after a form of destruction, pandemic, a war…or some such event, where it went through a decline leaving only traces of itself very much like Oradour-sur-Glane.
Exurb from VANGUARD ART MAGAZINE:
“...The sculptures are made from a wide range of the latest in industrial materials. Milo’s intrigue with the literal building blocks of North American culture began when he used to go to construction sites with camera and sketch pad in hand. Fascinated with the efficiency, cheapness and quickness of modern building materials, he decided to play with them. He spent a year wooing the heads of corporations such as Lepage’s Ltd.
In an effort to convince them to donate materials (with no strings attached) for his aesthetic experiments. The only condition was that should the work be shown, the companies’ donations would be publicly acknowledged. Milo’s efforts were more than successful with a total of eleven corporations volunteering massive amounts of materials, some of which were not yet on the market...”
Nancy Caroll, 1981
“...The sculptures are made from a wide range of the latest in industrial materials. Milo’s intrigue with the literal building blocks of North American culture began when he used to go to construction sites with camera and sketch pad in hand. Fascinated with the efficiency, cheapness and quickness of modern building materials, he decided to play with them. He spent a year wooing the heads of corporations such as Lepage’s Ltd.
In an effort to convince them to donate materials (with no strings attached) for his aesthetic experiments. The only condition was that should the work be shown, the companies’ donations would be publicly acknowledged. Milo’s efforts were more than successful with a total of eleven corporations volunteering massive amounts of materials, some of which were not yet on the market...”
Nancy Caroll, 1981
Curator for Art Gallery of Hamilton: Mr. Glen Cumming
Materials: Styrofoam, Fibergum® (Tar), metal rods, chicken wire, plaster, various manufacturing products, glue & paint.
Sizes: Between 1 to 3 metres in width, depth & height.
Materials: Styrofoam, Fibergum® (Tar), metal rods, chicken wire, plaster, various manufacturing products, glue & paint.
Sizes: Between 1 to 3 metres in width, depth & height.
I am grateful to the following sponsors who donated their products materials & manufacturing processes used in the making of the sculptures.
R. B. Milo
Benjamin Moore & Co. LTD., Toronto
Canadian Wire & Cable LTD., Toronto
Canadian Carborundum Co. LTD., Niagara Falls
Donlee Manufacturing Industries LTD., Weston
Federal Pioneer LTD., Toronto
Fineline Circuits LTD., Scarborough
Lazer-Tech LTD., Agincourt
LePage’s LTD., Brampton
Smith & Stone Inc., Toronto
Stelco Inc., Hamilton
Westrock Industries LTD., Mississauga
R. B. Milo
Benjamin Moore & Co. LTD., Toronto
Canadian Wire & Cable LTD., Toronto
Canadian Carborundum Co. LTD., Niagara Falls
Donlee Manufacturing Industries LTD., Weston
Federal Pioneer LTD., Toronto
Fineline Circuits LTD., Scarborough
Lazer-Tech LTD., Agincourt
LePage’s LTD., Brampton
Smith & Stone Inc., Toronto
Stelco Inc., Hamilton
Westrock Industries LTD., Mississauga