Ascension & artists

Ascension & artists, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.

Ascension is a pair of tripod statues in front of the Avatamsaka Monastery (Buddhist) near 10th Street bridge. During the tour the sculpting team, INCIPIO MODO (composed of two sculptors, Danira Miralda and Edward Beltran), were there to discuss their work.

I asked Danira if she or her partner had ever seen H.G. Well's War of the Worlds. The answer was a blank stare and "no." I got a few snickers from tour participants, though.  I wasn't trying to be funny.  I really wanted to know. 

When I first saw the statues (which are supposed to be spiders), looming next to the monastery, my first thought was that they were the invading tripods from the War of the Worlds.  Then I wondered why they put something so sharp, so violent, and kinda phallic in front of a Buddhist monastery.  A friend of a friend who prays at the monastery told her that it took quite a bit of convincing to get the monks to accept the piece and that some still don't like it.

Part of a free ArtBus tour held Sunday, September 29, 2013. All part of Alberta Culture Days.

Links:

• Ascension - City of Calgary
• Avatamsaka Monastery  
• Incipio Modo: The creation of "the Insect" - YouTube video shown during the ArtBus tour
• Alberta Culture Days
• ArtBus - a few more tour photos posted on Flickr