SIGNS of LIGHT

My town used to be a bit famous for its neon signs. Most of them are gone now for reasons I never understood since everybody you ask says they like them. There are a few neat ones preserved in a shed or nightclub because someone took the trouble, and it's not like they are all gone, but they are now an oddity instead of the obviously best way to tell the people you have a florist's shop or jewelry store or cafe.

Somebody made a movie about the neon lights of Vancouver. One thing I remember from that was the idea that our wet streets from our famous amounts of rain made the neon look even better.


Luckily some artists have stepped in and started using neon as a medium. Two signs have shown up in my town recently, both using simple white capital letters to make a statement instead of displaying the name of a business. One is attached to the exterior wall of an old building in Chinatown, high up so you can see it from all over. It is the work of a British artist.

The other was shown at a contemporary art gallery in Vancouver earlier this year. I'm not sure where it is now, but it's the work of a Vancouver artist.


I'm hoping this is a bit of a trend and my town might one day get back its standing as a great place to see neon signs. On the gloomiest drizzly night, there's nothing as welcome as a happy light that says OPEN.

GIVE IT TIME

Stories unfold at their own speed, layer by layer. The trick is to let it happen on its own terms. Rosebuds begin as little more than the promise of pleasure. All they need is your desire and your patience. In rushing for answers, we miss the music of the moment and the sweet sharp honey of longing. In the layers lie the questions, the beautiful uncertainties. In the lair, lies the creature who lives mostly in our imagination. Wait for it.

OK, I Did It

Since this has become the Summer of looking for the next big thing, it's necessary to post a few things I wrote for others. I picked work I wrote for three entirely different types of people who nonetheless each possess a combination of humanity and creativity that is the source of their success and that I find irresistible. I think this is my best work as a Business Writer, but I may not be the best judge of that.
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ZOE LUYENDIJK, Artist, Designer of Textile Collections Handmade in Nepal









City Collection



I need to go the city more often
the energy, the buzz, the crackle, the jolt- i love it.
the frantic, frenetic, spastic busy-ness, non-stop, off-balance, no peace--
it drives me crazy.
damn.
dust and gritty, hard, cold, steel, concrete, blacktop.
sun , liquid light from out of nowhere dancing across the sidewalk
and up the wall beside you.
bliss
lonely, anonymous, tough, depressing, dangerous
full of possibilities, of serendipidy- turn the corner and fall in love.
traffic hums and screeches, honks and curses- yasonofabitchmoronjerk.
laughter, secrets being told, lies being sold.
i love the city,
except when I can't stand it.

Urna 2 Collection


breathing beauty
breathing water
breathing thorns and bones and broken shells
breathing tides breathing seasons
breathing birth
breathing
nature doesn't trust us with it's secrets. why should she?
we can look all we want but our eyes are only pinholes.
every now and then when we're not looking we breathe in a
shadow of some true story.
ur na 2 is an attempt to show what nature is like when no one is watching.
breathing beauty
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NOVUS LIGHTING, Montreal Designer and Manufacturer of Architectural Lighting


Website Home Page Introduction
The role of lighting is fundamental. It clarifies. It animates. It can add depth, provide focus, enhance the perception of volume or diminish it. With lighting you can turn the heat up or cool things down. You can dramatize, you can soften. Its possibilities are as unlimited as your imagination. Light can be an architect's most valuable tool.


Project: Abbey, North of Montreal
This is a project that unfolded over five years, a pace in keeping with the lives of the Benedictine monks who live at St-Benoit-du-Lac, which sits among the Townships east of Montreal.

The addition of a new Abbey Church to their monastery involved the monks directly, who did some of the construction and worked with architect Dan Hanganu to develop a design that would respect the past while providing for the future. Novus was part of the project throughout this labour of love.

The results are quite extraordinary.

The new Abbey is designed to capture natural light in every imaginable way. Consequently,
the lighting produced by Novus is subordinate. It is discreet, quiet, subtle. It is respectful of the natural light, the architecture, and especially of the spirit of this remarkable place.

This project challenged Novus to do what often seemed impossible. In the end, it all worked as we hoped it would, and we believe the experience has made Novus designs better than they could have been without our participation in the St. Benoit du Lac Abbey project.

Project: Business School, University of Montreal

The Business School at the University of Montreal is a prestigious institution where those who expect to reach the top of the French-speaking business world come for advanced studies. This building, which has over 450,000 square feet of floor space, required a great variety of lighting solutions.

All of the architectural lighting, inside and out, is Novus.

Invited by architect Dan Hanganu to work on the project from an early stage, Novus provided products, resources, and expertise to help the architect and his team to achieve a lighting design that is fully integrated with the other elements of the building's architecture. Some Novus products were modified to achieve special results in this project; others were used in ways we never thought of before; and some products were custom designed for the Business School. All of the capabilities that set Novus apart are on view here. ______________________________________________________________________ BARK DESIGN COLLECTIVE, Designers Producing Provocative Exhibitions of Canadian Design

All Terrain Cabin (ATC)

We thought people all over the world should have a chance to see what Canadians get up to when they turn their heads to design, technology, and other imaginative persuits. The All Terrain Cabin (ATC) was dreamed up to send Canadian design on a world tour of International Design Forums, Consumer Home and Interior Design Shows, Environmental Conferences, and Special Events, as well as more casual visits to small towns, open spaces, and the downtown cores of major urban centres.

For that purpose, we designed a small home, a cabin, using the standard ISO shipping container as the basis for the structure and outfitting it totally with Canadian Design and Technology*. The result is as smart as it is efficient, suitable for a family of four and a pet to live off the grid in comfort and contemporary style. It travels by train, truck, ship, airplane or helicopter, folded up and indistinguishable from any ordinary shipping container.

Once it arrives, it unfolds rapidly to 480sf of self-contained, sophisticated living space with all the comforts of home. This is Canadian Cultural currency on the road, travelling the world for the next four years. Its main purpose is to raise awareness internationally of Canadian capabilities, not just for Canada’s sake, but for the sake of those who want to learn from us about how to live softly, smartly, and stylishly on this shared planet.

The All Terrain Cabin is designed to travel the world celebrating Canada's material culture at international design events, trade venues and cultural gatherings. If you see value in BARK's All Terrain Cabin at your event, contact BARK (info@barkbark.ca) to discuss how the ATC can benefit your organization.