Over the next few weeks, a giant ring 30 meters in diameter will be installed at the entrance to the Place Ville Marie esplanade in Montreal.
Cost of this work of art: five million dollars.
“The Ring is an ambitious project, just like our metropolis, which alone justifies a visit to downtown,” says (without laughing) Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.
“This new symbol of Montreal will find a special place in our hearts and in the photos that will go around the world,” believes Yves Lalumière, CEO of Tourisme Montreal.
I’m coudonc.
GOOD
That said, have you ever been to Chicago?
It’s my favorite American city.
One of Chicago’s top tourist attractions is a large stainless steel bin located in the middle of Millenium Park.
Looks like a giant drop of mercury.
Every day, tourists from all over the world go to photograph themselves in front of the bine.
I did it. With my wife and our son.
So a bine, a ring…
Wow, why not?
That said, I have two questions to ask.
Montreal already has a monumental sculpture that could delight lovers of urban art around the world: the three discsby internationally renowned American artist Alexander Calder.
It is the most important work of public art in Montreal, but you cannot see it from downtown, because it is installed in Parc Jean-Drapeau.
Only Piknic Électronik regulars benefit from it.
Businessman and patron Alexandre Taillefer wanted to move this huge structure (which would be worth between 150 and 200 million dollars) to downtown Montreal, but his excellent idea went unheeded.
Why didn’t we do that instead?
I would have seen this sculpture at the foot of Mount Royal or in the center of the Place Ville Marie esplanade…
PEARLS FOR FRANKENSTEIN
Second question: it’s all well and good, installing a big ring at Place Ville Marie, but…
Have you seen the state of the city?
It’s like giving a beautiful jewel to a mummy.
You might go to Tiffany’s, if the person you’re buying a nice five million dollar necklace from looks like a punch in a meat pie, not sure that makes a difference.
Can we start by making the city a little less ugly?
Currently, you know what is the main attraction of the city?
Construction sites, orange cones and potholes.
This is where tourists take their picture.
Seems to me like when your house is falling apart, you don’t put a stained glass window in your living room.
I’M DOING WELL !
Five million dollars for a giant ring, 261 million dollars to allow people to go to the Magdalen Islands by plane…
Are we that rich in Quebec?
I hope that we will organize visits of the ring to the pupils who study in old schools…
“Look, it’s beautiful, huh? Come, now, let’s eat pizza! With mushrooms. Like your school…”