Vancouver International Airport Art

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Address:  3211 Grant McConachie Way
Date: Feb 2017
Website: www.yvr.ca/en/about-yvr/art

  Thanks to a 5 hour delay we missed our connecting flight to Maui.  This meant spending the night in Vancouver and more time in the Vancouver airport than we would have liked.  If you are going to be stuck in an airport, Vancouver's is rated one of the best.  It is especially known for its artwork.  As we wandered through the airport towards our hotel shuttle, we were sad that we would not fall asleep to the sound of Pacific Ocean waves hitting the Maui shore.  The airport tried to cheer us up as we came across three carved sculptures (above).  Left to right they are "The Blind Halibut Fisherman", "Raven Stealing The Beaver Lake" and "Raven With a Broken Beak".

  After spending the night near the airport, we took our hotel shuttle again and were dropped off near the departure gates.  The first thing we noticed was 3 totem poles towering over us.  We dropped off our luggage and checked in for our flight.

  As we headed towards our departure gate we encountered the Clayoquot Welcome Figures. These carved figures are often placed on the beach in front of a village to welcome guests.  Today they were welcoming us.

  "The Spirit of The Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe" is the most famous piece in the collection.  It has been on display at the Vancouver Airport since 1996 and used to be printed on the back of the Canadian twenty dollar bill from 2004 to 2012.  The canoe is overflowing with characters from Haida mythology. 

  Once we had made our way through customs and entered the gate area, all we had to do was wait.  A red lit sculpture caught our eye.  It was a transformation mask that would be worn by ceremonial dancers.  When it is closed it looks like the head of a raven. When it is pulled open it reveals the fearsome face inside.  It is kind of like us when we heard the news about our connecting flight yesterday.  "We are sorry there are no other flights headed to Maui this evening".  Bak! Mask open! Fearsome face revealed.

  While we waited for our flight, we could see other passengers arrive through the Pacific Passage.  A large bird called a Thunderbird hovered above them as they wandered underneath, disorientated and wondering if they would ever be reunited with their luggage.

  Other smaller exhibits could be found around the airport such as the figurines above.  The majority of them looked like trick-or-treaters wearing bed sheet ghost costumes.

  This final exhibit required you to place the palm of your hand against a special spot.  When you did, the little man started to peddle his bicycle and every so often a dog popped up out of the front basket.
  We did eventually make it to Maui only one day late.  It wasn't how we planned our vacation, but thanks in part to the Vancouver Airport it wasn't that bad.

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Map of Our World
Vancouver International Airport

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Post # 179

Kingsman & Huntsman

Location: London, England
Address: 11 Saville Row
Date: August 2015
Website: www.huntsmansavilerow.com

  Saville Row has been the place for bespoke tailoring in London since the early 1800s.  Bespoke tailoring is a custom made suit that is cut to perfectly fit the individual.  Usually you buy a suit and they will take it in or let it out to make it fit better.  Bespoke is the high end of tailoring.  We visited one of the shops on a drizzly evening as we headed out for dinner.  We visited a shop called Huntsman, not for a good fitting suit, but for a different reason altogether.

  The Hunstman shop at 11 Seville Row made an appearance in the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service.  In the movie the tailor shop is called Kingsman and houses a secret spy headquarters filled with gadgets and hidden rooms.  Harry Hart (Colin Firth) is a spy who wants to train a young lad called Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and brings him to the tailor shop.  Hunstman provided not just the location, but the suits for the fictional Kingsman.  Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Cane also get to dress in style as part of the cast.  Real life clients include the Royal family, Clark Gable, David Bowie and Ronald Reagan.

  The shop was closed when we visited or we may have attempted to venture inside.  We didn't see any obvious spy activity, except for the car (above) that turned on with no driver inside.  What will they think of next? 

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Map of Our World
Huntsman & Sons

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Post # 178

The Safety Dance

Location: West Kington, England
Address: Drifton Hill
Date: September 2015
Website: www.menwithouthats.com

  "We can go where we want to. A place where they will never find."  It may seem like an unlikely place for Canadian band Men Without Hats to film their Safety Dance video, but thanks to some internet research and a very informative blog, we paid a visit to this special place.

  West Kington is a small village that is located north of Bath and east of Bristol.  We were traveling along the M4 highway and had a plan mapped out before we left.  We made a few wrong turns but eventually reached our first sheep filled destination.

  Ebbdown Farm is in the background of the opening scenes of the video.  We don't recall seeing any sheep in the video, but when we visited they were everywhere.  If we walked close to a fence we would hear some baa-ing as they ran away on the other side.  The farm is located just a short drive from West Kington.

  We drove our car up to a cattle guard at the gate of the farm.  Cattle guards also work at preventing sheep from crossing them as they have similar feet. Anyway, enough about the sheep let's get back to the video locations. 

  The video starts off with lead singer Ivan running through a field with a little court jester.  They go past this wall and then run down to the road that leads to the farm.

  It is here that they are joined by a dancing girl and come to a crossroads.  You can't see the other road as it is hidden behind the hill and tree, but they choose the one on the left.  The action then moves to West Kington.

   The jester and girl dance along beside Ivan as he walks past some houses.  The home above still had the same red post box in front of it.

  Next we come across the gate where they do The Safety Dance.  The utility pole in the background helped us know that this was the place.  To do The Safety Dance you use both of your arms.  Your left arm goes right over your head and your right arm goes left across your waist in a jerky motion.  Now look at your hands.  If you are doing it right it will appear like you just formed an S.

  A crowd of people dressed in costumes head across the little bridge and march down the street.  They were all dressed real neat from their hats to their feet.  They would be heading towards the photographer in the photo above.

  They all seem to be going to a May Day festival which takes place in the courtyard of this building.  There are people dressed as barnyard animals (but not sheep), there is a Punch & Judy puppet show and lots of dancing.  We can dance!

  A group of people are dancing around a May pole as Ivan continues to sing.  The party continues for the rest of the video.  The Safety Dance came out in 1983 and was one of the more memorable videos and songs from the 80's.  Thirty years ago we were wondering what those strange people in the video were doing.  Today we know first hand exactly where they did it, but we still have no idea what The Safety Dance really is.  Oh well! They can dance if they want to.

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Map of Our World
Ebbdown Farm , West Kington

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Post # 177