Gardiner East Dismantling | Text Stones

Hi, my name’s John McKinnon. I am the artist responsible for the Gardiner East Dismantling, the public art end of it. With the whole sort of public art program my ideas involved discovery. As you walk along the bike path or the walking path, you would notice things that don’t really jump out at you. So there is a certain subtle aspect to the whole overall plan, particularly with the Text Stones. This is a grouping of granite blocks within the grassy area between the bike path and the walking path. It is a natural resting point. There’s a nice grove of trees on either side you’ll notice. And as you sit there you might just happen to notice in a subtle way that there’s actual text on these stones. This text is actually comprised of passages from local authors who live in the south Riverdale area, Anne Ireland being one of them; Emil Scher, another Nino Ricci, who’s pretty well known, and his partner Erica Vascosolos. These passages just offer a little bit of respite from whatever you may have been thinking at that moment in your life, and then here’s something you can dwell upon. And it’s just a very pleasant little spot to sort of contemplate the words as you notice them.

Have you heard about Mosaic piece yet?

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