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Victoria Airport Authority Announces New Public Art
Feb 21, 2019
Victoria Airport Authority (VAA) is pleased to announce the commission of “Time Catcher“ by Artist Charles Campbell to complement the Lower Passenger Departure Lounge expansion project at Victoria International Airport.
The selection process for the art started in August 2018 with a Call to Artists on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. VAA received almost 100 applications of interest and 47 proposals from local artists. Selection was made by the VAA Art at the Airport Advisory Committee comprised of members of VAA’s Board, President and CEO, project Architect, a representative from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and VAA staff.
Charles Campbell was selected from five finalists. “Time Catcher is a new work that invokes concepts of time and movement across territories and sees the departure lounge as an in-between space with the potential for connection and contemplation. The work considers what motivates our movements and how we carry memory and culture as we traverse territories and the globe, said Charles Campbell.”
The installation will form a 36-ft diameter ring from a suspended array of three-sided wooden vessels. The form of the vessels is derived from the shape of ships and canoes with any two of the identical sides mimicking the hydrodynamic surface of a hull. The third, enclosing side, connects the form to natural objects such as seed pods or the body of a migratory bird. These vessels are conceived as metaphorical carriers of ecological and cultural memory and elicit multiple connections to both the natural and manufactured world. A verse from science fiction writer, Octavia Butler’s “Paradise” will be inscribed on the surface of each vessel in Morse code.
“I hope to create a space that allows people a moment of pause and wonder, one to consider how their movements connect to larger patterns and to contemplate the possibilities of the future,” said Campbell.
“Charles’s art proposal captivated the committee from the start,” said Geoff Dickson, President and CEO. “His thoughtful consideration of the piece and his ability to articulate his artistic process was impressive. We were extremely pleased with the level of interest for this call and by the talent shown from the shortlisted artists. The final decision was not easy.”
Charles Campbell is a Jamaican born multidisciplinary artist, writer and curator and the, former Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica. His work has been exhibited widely in the Caribbean, North and South America and Europe.
The budget for the public art is $100,000 and completion of the work is expected to coincide with the completion of the project in Spring 2020.
About Victoria International Airport
Victoria International Airport (Airport Code: YYJ) is the 11th busiest airport in Canada with over 2.0 million passengers per year. Victoria is well served with more than 100 daily flights throughout North America. YYJ was rated among one of the top ten most-loved airports in the world by CNN Travel and was twice named ‘Best Regional Airport in North America’ by Airports Council International (ACI).
Victoria Airport Authority is a not-for-profit authority that has managed the safe and secure operations of the Victoria International Airport on behalf of the surrounding communities since April 1, 1997.
Media Contact
Geoff Dickson
President and CEO
Executive Offices: (250) 953-7501
Rendering of “Time Catcher’” by Charles Campbell
