WATERLOO — The president of HIP Developments will ask the City of Waterloo for permission to install a new sculpture that already rises eight metres above King Street South.
Scott Higgins said boundary-busting art was never created by a committee. Urban place-making will be key for economic development during the next 10 years, and the new sculpture shows how to do that right.
“We will go to them now to seek approval, and we hope they will give it to us, but that’s the point of public art too, to encourage that discussion,” said Higgins.
Having a 12-person committee make decisions on public art, or taking proposals to the community for reaction and then making a decision, do not always lead to good outcomes, he said.
“Art is subjective, it is meant to question, it is meant to polarize a little bit. These are OK things,” said Higgins. “So we wanted to do this one in a unique way where we expose ourselves and that’s OK.”
“The Banana” sits on the sidewalk at 181 King St. S. in Waterloo, in front of the HIP condo development that includes the former Waterloo Brewery. Higgins wouldn’t specify how much the sculpture cost, saying only the company spent many times more than the required minimum of $50,000.
In the city where the smartphone was invented, the piece celebrates the rise of mobile communications but warns against the cult-like worship of hand-held technology.
BlackBerry, Apple and now “The Banana.”
The sculpture is a dark, towering swirl of primates — tumbling and grasping, screaming in awe and wonder at the screen that’s captivated the gorilla sitting in a chair at the bottom. The smartphone in the gorilla’s hand has a banana for a corporate logo.
At night, the gorilla’s face is illuminated by the screen. At the top of the sculpture a barrel has tipped over, spilling the cascade of monkeys to the sidewalk below.
The gorilla’s chair is a nod to the old building’s furniture-making past. The tipping barrel acknowledges the building’s later phase as a brewery.
The sculpture was created by Timothy Schmalz, the region’s most famous sculptor.
In his Elmira studio, Schmalz has created sculptures of a homeless Jesus sleeping on a bench wrapped in a blanket and a begging Jesus extending a scarred hand. He did a large sculpture on migrants and refugees that was installed at the Vatican. He’s done memorials to dead firefighters, miners and soldiers.
Safe to say his work is heavy.
“HIP came to my studio and I showed them the pieces I was working on,” said Schmalz. “At the time I was doing that refugee piece for the Vatican. And they looked at me and said, ‘Tim, we love your art work, but we want something fun.’ ”
That was more than two years ago, and Schmalz was delighted to get the commission. Creating “The Banana” was so much fun it was more like a breather, he said.
“The fascinating thing about the piece is it’s lyrical. Not only the subject matter is fun, but the design swirls and undulates, there is a rhythm to it from a distance, just like a joyful flow, which really emphasizes the idea of something delightful,” said Schmalz.
The focal point is the smartphone in the gorilla’s hand, he said.
“I thought, ‘If there is going to be a 27-foot sculpture, which is probably the biggest bronze in Ontario, or one of them at least, it has to be big on tech because that’s what we are known for,’ ” said Schmalz.
“To have the hero being that latest device ‘The Banana’ is very fun,” said Schmalz.
The sculpture was unwrapped last week after part of the covering was pulled aside, and there were some comments on social media about it. It was made public at a time when the pandemic means people are using their tech more than ever.
“So what a time to bring this out,” said Schmalz.
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From the tiny monkeys at the top to the knuckle-walker on the bottom, all eyes are on the smartphone screen.
“That’s what they are all coveting, that’s why they are spilling out, that’s why they are rushing out — the howler monkeys are pointing at it and howling at it,” said Schmalz.
“It says: ‘This is our city, our endless pursuit of the latest tech, and the next innovative product and it is ‘The Banana,’ ” said Schmalz.
