Turning Earth (2005)

David Robinson

Barrington Walk, 7288 Heather St.

Area: City Centre
Location: On Heather street, south of Sills avenue, at the entrance of Barrington Walk.

Materials: Cement, bronze and steel

Program: Private
Ownership: Civic
Sponsored By: Polygon Development Ltd.

Description of Work

A pair of harnessed draft horses, each placed atop a curving plinth, appear to heave in opposing directions.

Artist Statement

This work took some direction from the City of Richmond’s request that public artworks submitted might have themes relating to the agricultural history of the municipality. Having been informed that the desired aesthetic might also make due deference to the large Chinese community in the City of Richmond, the piece took some stylistic inspiration from the horses of the Terra Cotta Warriors unearthed in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.

Both the commissioning mandate and the aesthetic vision of this piece reach for a telling of the particular history of a particular place. The former sought to render and preserve that history as an idea of a life and culture now outmoded by ever-expanding progress and necessity. The latter sought to invoke and even to grieve a vitality and viability now buried and gone. That some tension should exist and abide between respective aesthetic readings of a place and time is, a fitting expression of always changing and provisional cultural ideals.