Taken in April 1976. I loved this piece. It used to stand in front of the Toronto-Dominion tower at the corner of Georgia and Granville, and then, suddenly it didn't; the bank removed it so they could build a little entrance foyer to the tower. People called it, if memory serves, the "exploding bicycle" sculpture.

A little digging on the internet (and with some help from city staff) I found the following at the city of Vancouver Public Art Registry —

Artist(s): George A. Norris
Description of Work: (Untitled [Silver Bird])
Artist Statement: "The sculpture to me was like a silent song."
Piece was removed by owners and donated to City of Surrey in 1988, where it was supposed to go in front of the justice centre. However, it was disassembled and stored. It was sold for scrap metal in 1996. It was reported to have been an accident by city staff but the union said the city manager ordered it sold. Surrey issued a public apology to the artist. (K. Sinoski, Province, Mar 4, 1996)

As you can tell, Surrey is to the forefront among art-loving cities.

Norris is also the creator of the stainless steel crab in front of the Planetarium, which I will post a picture of another day. Find out about him here .

Tags:   George Norris sculpture Vancouver Georgia & Granville Silver Bird exploding bicycle steel sculptures lost works vanished art

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Is this an Indian motorcycle? The young man has an Indian jacket, and the bike looks a bit like a 1948 Scout. He had the bike parked part way on the sidewalk, and as I went by, he came along, wheeled it onto the street, kick started it and prepared to depart. I stepped into the street and had time for one shot before he took off, that is, no time to shoot so as to conceal my shadow. Taken on 26 February, 1994.

Tags:   Vancouver BC motorcycles Robson street Indian motorcycles antique motorcycles reproductions youth downtown Canon F-1 black & white Ilford HP-5 EF lenses 28mm 1990s

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After a bit of digging, I located my one shot of the S'Il Vous Plait Café, a black and white (Ilford XP2) taken by chance when I was downtown to shoot the library (old and new) for the Vancouver Review. Taken on or about 26 February, 1994. Note the many plants in the window and all along the ledges. The owner at the time seemed to have a thing for them and they were all over the interior. In this shot you can see all the art deco tiling and the glass bricks framing the door. The café was the endpoint of a block of buildings, which is still there, though the businesses struggle somewhat. The new owner has kept the same awning, he's just painted a different name on it. I always got the impression when I was in there that the real name was not "as you please," but rather, "as I please," meaning, as the owner pleased. Yes, it served good food, but one felt that it was, to an extent, a whimsey on the part of the owner to do so. A nice vibe.

Tags:   richards robson café Vancouver 1990s s'il vous plait

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These guys were part of a crew – actually most of the crew – who were moving an exhibit into the foyer of the HSBC bank building at Hornby and Georgia. That space very often has art exhibits of one kind or another (there is a grand piano also pretty much permanently in it), but I didn't ask what the exhibit was going to be. The license plate on the truck is from Ontario. Coming or going? Not a clue. I will take a look next week and see what the new exhibit is. The sign on the black shirt (right) says Installations, so I guess they are semi-pros at this. And here they are taking a lunch break. Interesting how males in our culture rely pretty much exclusively on blues and blacks to make fashion statements, the colours of bruising, so to speak. I'm not a big fan of jeans chic, but it's like the colours, pretty much unavoidable.

Tags:   Vancouver downtown people

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Another stolen shot, of one of the many beggars on the downtown streets. Hard to tell quite how old he is, since, if he's been living rough, he might look much older than his actual calendar age. But he looks to be in his 60s, at least, so one of the early baby boomers. Two packs, and maybe a third just visible at the lower right, comprising his whole "house." The cigarette is a filtered one, and fresh, so he's enough money for coffee and cigs. Nicotine stained moustache, and a beard most likely because his chances of being able to shave on a regular basis are slim, thus, making a virtue of necessity. He didn't make eye contact, or ask for anything, but just kept along on his own line. I always wonder what pathway leads guys like this to end up on the streets, but suspect it is usually nothing very interesting or romantic, but simply drugs and alcohol abuse. As they say at AA, the job is always the last thing to go.

Tags:   Vancouver downtown people beggars baby boomers street people smokers

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