v. to look at (something) more or less attentively; to scrutinize, to observe closely

n. The exercise of the faculty of sight; the faculty or power of vision; the possibility or opportunity of seeing something

[adapted from the OED]

From thie viewpoint, looking south

the valley sinks its verdant basin

or aspen and evergreen.

 

A glimpse of river gazes back at sunset,

accepting its colours, as the cursive stroke

of a character takes the shade of ink.

 

Brass letters rim a nearby fountain –

“From this ragged handful of tents and cabins,

a city will arise.” Thus the brash

commercial visionaries of 1880

surveyed the future.

[Alice Major, “Contemplating the City”]

 

View may include: Paul Kane paintings, Walter Cheadle etching, Planetarium, FAVA. *we may want to put the art pieces in context with modern day photographs, using sliders

Thoughts on Form

The most obvious form to take for this theme, it seems, would be something visual – photos, paintings, sliders. For the historical paintings, this is simple, though sliders with a modern-day view of the same vista may take some hiking through the river valley. But how to represent the Planetarium and FAVA in a way that connects them to the other views? Might we consider placing a 3D rendering of the planetarium where it was planned to be, and considering how it might have changed the “view” of the river valley? Can we get ahold of the architectural plans that may have been made before the project was relocated? For FAVA, the obvious visual medium would be a video (film and video arts), but what vision do we want to portray? Is there some way that the sliders could work as well?