Video - Boat Sight (youth version) - Decoding ART – Heritage Monuments

Transcript of Boat Sight (youth version)

Narrator: “This capsule is presented by Canadian Heritage”

[Signature of Canadian Heritage]

[Different views of the sculpture; the boat shape and the animals]

Narrator: “How do you think an animal who has never seen a boat before would react to one?

The artist who created this sculpture wanted people to think about how nature reacts to culture—culture means things that are created by people, like paintings or plays.

The animals on the banks of the river are watching the ship coming in from the water.

They are a bit curious and a bit frightened because the boat is something new and mysterious for them. The sculpted animals are very lifelike.

Do you think they are wolves… or dogs?

The artist doesn’t really tell us, so these animals could be dogs or wolves—either guess could be right.

The boat frame is huge—it’s almost four metres high. That’s higher than the ceiling of your classroom.

Look through the frame of the boat. What do you see?

Can you see things that are a part of nature?

Can you see things that were built by people?

When he created this piece of art, the artist wanted you to think about both nature and culture, and how they come together.

Walk around and take a closer look at the sculpture in front of you. Instead of being just one piece, it’s made up of several pieces. The large steel boat frame and the two animals are all part of the artwork.

This piece of art is called Boat Sight… And it was created by John McEwen, a Canadian artist.

Do you think it’s called Boat Sight because the animals are seeing the boat for the first time?

Or perhaps it’s called Boat Sight because of what you can see through the boat.

Boats have been sailing up the Ottawa River for thousands of years. Indigenous peoples, explorers and fur traders used to paddle along it in canoes.

John McEwen designed this sculpture for this specific spot along the river. If you were creating artwork for a park beside a river, what would it look like?”

[Canada wordmark]