Toronto 
A giant red bear reclining in the snow, a cosy cabin made from tree roots and a jingling wind chime constellation are just some of the installations that visitors to Toronto’s downtown Waterfront can experience this winter as the winners are announced for the second annual Ice Breakers event.
Ice Breakers, the temporary Waterfront art exhibit presented by the Waterfront BIA and produced by Winter Stations, asked artists and designers to look to the stars for inspiration for 2018, with the theme “constellation”.
The name Ice Breakers is inspired by the utilitarian ships once used in Toronto’s harbour to break up frozen bodies of water, keeping commerce flowing into and out of the City. Ice Breakers is also a testament to the power of design, bringing strangers together and sparking a fresh dialogue about Toronto’s urban Waterfront.
Developed in partnership with PortsToronto, all five Ice Breakers installations will be dispersed throughout the Waterfront between York Street and Spadina Avenue beginning January 19. The exhibition will run over five weeks, coinciding with the debut of the fourth annual Winter Stations competition in The Beaches on Family Day.
Who is it for?
All ages
Free
WHEN & WHERE
Date & Time:
FRIDAY, JANUARY 19 – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2018
Ice Breakers will feature five wintertime art installations located on Queens Quay from Harbourfront Centre to the Toronto Music Garden.
Locations
‘Through the Eyes of the Bear’ by Tanya Goertzen of People Places (Calgary, Canada) @ HTO Park West, 375 Queens Quay W, Toronto
Inspired by Ursa Major or the Great Bear constellation, this installation uses renewable, recyclable and compostable materials to ask visitors to consider how humans interact with nature, or to see the world ‘through the eyes of a bear.’
‘Black Bamboo’ by Bennet Marburger and Ji Zhang of 2408 Studio ( Hangzhou Shi, China) @ Lower Simcoe WaveDeck, 243 X Queens Quay W, Toronto
Black Bamboo is an installation made from 90 painted bamboo poles freely arranged to form a framework in an abstract cubic shape. Like the constellations, the cube as a shape only comes into existence within our heads.
Black Bamboo is accessible and invites visitors to walk or climb through it.
‘Winter FanFare’ by Thena Tak (Vancouver, Canada) @ HTO Park, 339 Queens Quay W, Toronto
Winter FanFare is a series of rotating fan-sculptures that collectively form a circulation playscape for winter exploration. In the spirit of the competition’s theme, ‘constellations’, Winter FanFare deploys individual fan-sculptures to create clusters of pockets where the public can meander through or run in and around.
‘Ensemble’ by João Araújo Sousa and Joana Correia Silva, JJs Arquitectura (Porto, Portugal) @ Toronto Music Garden East, 370 Queens Quay W, Toronto
Ensemble merges architecture, music and astronomy to explore the dialogue between humans and the urban environment. The installation is inspired by wind chimes, which visitors can touch to create beautiful abstract compositions and ever-changing soundscapes.
‘Root Cabin’ by Liz Wreford and Peter Sampson, Public City Architecture (Winnipeg, Canada) @ We Brew Café Patio (Harbourfront Centre), 225 Queens Quay W, Toronto
Like a constellation, Root Cabin is a mystery waiting to be discovered. Coloured cuts of wood can be seen through gaps in an alluring pile of weathered roots. When further explored by a visitor, the colours reveal a void that can be inhabited, and an iconic, nostalgic form of Canadian dwelling emerges.