Colourful art installation coming soon to a Mississauga park
Published July 10, 2024 at 12:57 pm
A new, colourful art installation is coming to a Mississauga park.
Zaagaasige an artwork by New York-based studio SOFTlab is coming to the future M City Park at 505 Webb Dr. in summer of 2025. The project was one of four shortlisted submissions for a public park in the new M City condo development.
The artwork is inspired by the Ojibwe word Zaagaasige, which means the sun shines between and out of, according to the description posted on the City of Mississauga website.
The public artwork will feature a canopy made of wood that lets sunlight through an organic, cell-like structure.
The work is inspired by nature and the canopy resembles lily pads. The installation will form a vaulted gateway with three pillars.
It will use natural patterns, creating a solid appearance from afar while being visually porous up close. Each cell varies in shape and will be clad with mirrored panels in different colours, offering kaleidoscopic views of the sky and surroundings.
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When sunlight passes through the canopy, it will take on the colours of each cell.
“This creates a magical atmosphere of light and colour for visitors,” the description reads. “As the sun moves across the sky, patterns of coloured light shift and change in unexpected ways, ‘painting’ pedestrians and the ground with colour.”
Zaagaasige was selected through an open call to artists. Submissions were evaluated by an independent art selection committee and four applicants were shortlisted and invited to develop proposals.
Residents and visitors then provided input and feedback on these four public art proposals.
Zaagaasige received the highest proportion of positive comments, more than three times the amount of the second-place proposal. The art selection committee selected Zaagaasige based on the selection criteria and survey feedback.
For more information, see the City of Mississauga webpage here.
SOFTlab is a design studio based in New York City founded by Michael Szivos.
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