Week Two Article

http://www.mississauga.com/what's%20on/article/1244004--public-art-pops-up
Posted: November 14^th, 2011                                     Viewed: November 15^th, 2011

Article Summary:
This article is basically about the growing amount of public art popping up in Mississauga, Ontario. Recently, two new pieces have been added to its collection and a third one will be this summer. One piece is the Familia by Stephen Cruise. It consists of nine sculptures made from limestone and granite. According to Cruise, the sculptures are of a shell, tree, fish, fox, rail, boat, tank, lion and hive, the latter being the central piece representing collective activity as well as the St. Lawrence Starch Company. The second piece is Crossing Pedestrians by Peter Gibson. According to Gibson, the painted figures moving across the pavement show the municipality's commitment to transforming the downtown into a pedestrian-friendly area by creating art that's better experienced while walking instead of driving. "Public art contributes to the distinct identity and unique character of the city and its various destinations," said Susan Burt, the City's director of culture division.

Word 1: latter
a) According to the artist, the sculptures are of a shell, tree, fish, fox, rail, boat, tank, lion and hive, the latter being the central piece representing collective activity as well as the St. Lawrence Starch Company, which had a mill on the site.
b) Latter: referring to the second of two things or persons mentioned or the last one or ones of several (www.thefreedictionary.com)
c) I prefer Woodstock’s oranges to their apples because the latter are always bruised.

Word 2: perusal
a) At the intersection of City Centre Dr.a nd Duke of York Blvd., Crossing Pedestrians is available for public perusal.
b) Peruse: to read or examine, typically with great care (www.thefreedictionary.com)
c) Mr. Plonka encouraged his students to peruse One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, however, most just ended up skimming it (not referring to English 11-4 because they are the bomb and perused for days).

Word 3: roundabout
a) The roundabout at Duke of York Blvd. and Square One Dr. will have a piece installed at its centre next summer.
b) Roundabout: a road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island (www.thefreedictionary.com)
c) In the bazaar there are many roundabouts.    

Response:
This article relates to me as we are doing this exact kind of artwork in my sculpture class at the moment; more like Cruise’s piece than Gibson’s, but still the same idea. We are working on environmental art and our assignment is to create a sculpture, using various materials found predominately in nature, and put it in a certain public area in order to portray a specific message. Mine is a pakman head attached to a stick body that is coloured in like the earth, instead of all yellow, and it is eating circles that, instead of just being random colours, are filled with non-renewable resources. So the message is that we, the people of earth, are eating up all the non-renewable resources. Both Cruise and Gibson’s works, too, are placed in a public area with the intention of giving a specific message to the public.