NEWSLETTER

Photo : 1 2

Vancouver artist Ken Lum’s Monument for East Vancouver is a large-scale version of a street image that has circulated in East Vancouver for decades: a crossword of VAN EAST using the common “A”. With the entire cross-shaped text outlined in white LED lights, the installation has multiple associations, including religion and irreverence, and is an assertion of eastside identity.

The crossword signifies the identity of those living in the eastern part of the city and is often accompanied with the word “rules”. This is ironic, as traditionally those in the west of the city have held the economic and political power, though the real estate boom more recently has rendered the boundary between east and west more fluid. The piece monumentalizes a rearguard gesture of defiance, protest, and assertion of identity. (Ken Lum)

The work is located at the crest of East 6th Avenue at Clark Drive, where it can be seen from significant vantage points to the west.

Photo 1 by Ken Lum
Photo 2 by Scott Massey