Video - Balancing (youth version) - Decoding ART - Public art
Transcript of Balancing (youth version)
Narrator: “This capsule is presented by Canadian Heritage”
[Canadian Heritage signature]
[The sculpture, five characters taking different poses on a Y shape base; a man sitting, a man standing with his arms wide opened, a woman standing looking far away, a man with his arms crossed and another one with one arm above his head]
Narrator: “Are you good at keeping your balance? The figures in this wooden sculpture sure are! In fact, they've been doing their balancing act on these beams since 1981. Actually, Balancing is the title of this sculpture.”
[The sculptor John Hooper working on his artwork]
Narrator: “It was created by an artist named John Hooper. Most artists sign their work, but John Hooper signed this one twice. Can you find where?”
[Differents shots of the sculpture]
Narrator: “This sculpture has become one of the favourite public artworks in the region. People seem to really like it a lot. They like to touch it and climb on it to have their picture taken, or maybe just to pretend that they're part of the sculpture. And that's exactly what the artist wanted when he created it.
“Unfortunately, it isn't just people who really like this sculpture. A few years ago, a colony of bees (sounds of bees) decided to make it their home. Imagine having a work of art for a home! Sure, it was probably pretty cool for the bees – but, for the sculpture? Not so much.”[Components of the sculpture in the workshop during restoration]
Narrator: “Some of the figures ended up completely hollow inside.
“Luckily, the bees left and the sculpture was repaired. Actually, the proper word for works of art is ‘restored.’ And this sculpture had some major restoration work done.
“All of the figures, which are very heavy – each is about double the weight of an average refrigerator –were shipped off to New Brunswick, back to the artist's workshop. Kathy Hooper, who is John Hooper's widow, was the one who oversaw all the work on the sculpture to make sure that it ended up exactly as it was before.”
[The sculpture outside after the restoration]
Narrator: “So, did you find the two places where the artist signed this work? His name is on the pocket of the government worker, and his initials are on the back of the coat that the woman is holding.”
[Canada wordmark]
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