The first of three “drinking birds” art pieces was installed outside Calgary’s New Central Library on Friday.
The art pieces, titled “TRIO” is a band of anthropomorphic figures, engaged in an endless back and forth motion, similar to a pendulum swinging.
“Friday marks the first of a multi-day installation of the interior and exterior public art installations,” Michael Brown, president and CEO of Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) said in a press release.
The $2-million installation was commissioned by California artist Christian Moeller. Two of the sculptures will be placed on the west side of the library. The third will be placed on the east side.
CMLC director of marketing Clare LePen said the reaction to the sculptures has been very positive.
“We knew that we wanted to find a piece and an installation and an artist that the library’s vision really was in the community… a way to animate the spaces in the library, whether it was inside or outside,” LePen said.
The installation of TRIO began on Friday, and require three to four days for each of the three sculptures to be installed and tested.
Each figure measures nine to 10 metres tall and “moves like a pendulum,” according to a release by CMLC.
Moeller is also the artist behind an inside art installation called FISH, which is a piece comprised of more than 10,000 books, in 12 different colours.
Moeller was selected through a multi-level selection process that drew responses from 239 artists and artists groups.
The grand opening of the new library is planned for November.
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