Moose sightings on campus are expected to increase. But the newest addition to U of T’s ecosystem won’t be stopping traffic or nibbling the shrubbery—it’s made of steel.
The metal sculpture of a moose, called Mooseconstrue, stands at the corner of St. George St. and Harbord St. It was created by acclaimed Canadian artist Charles Pachter.
Unveiled on Oct. 1, the sculpture is a companion to an earlier Pachter moose sculpture called Moosedemeanour, which stands in the courtyard of Graduate House.
Charles Pachter is widely regarded as one of Canada’s leading contemporary artists, holding degrees from the University of Toronto, the Sorbonne, and the Cranbook Academy of Art. Pachter exhibitions have toured France, Germany and Japan. Here at home his paintings hang in the Toronto Stock Exchange, and a TTC subway houses a mural dubbed “Hockey Knights in Canada” by Pachter.
“The moose is a membrane, a play between flatness, surface and surroundings,” Pachter said.
It took four days to cut and shape the steel moose through the innovative use of a high precision water-jet that slowly but surely cut the four-inch thick plate of steel into the silhouette of a moose.
However, tackling the bureaucracy of the city and university took much longer.
Mooseconstrue rests on the major gas supply pipeline of the campus. The grassy mound the moose stands on is also situated on city sidewalk, which the University had to obtain city permission to use.
It took four years and a lot of help from administration to tackle the city and university bureaucracy, and for that help Pachter dearly thanked everyone involved.
“It’s been dubbed ‘soon to arrive’ for the last four years,” said Carl Amrhein, dean of Arts and Science.
“Thank you to all who helped install the moose without shutting out the major gas supply on campus,” Amrhein added.
Pachter explained that it would take a minimum of 175 years before corrosion dissolved his sculpture, according to some engineers he spoke to.
The artist handpicked the location, directly across from Robarts Library and beside the Ramsey Wright Zoological building. “I live just down the street, and in passing, I saw this perfect mound of green, sloping slightly upward,” Pachter said.
Pachter explained that with the coming and going of seasons, the piece would change along with its surroundings. “Be sure to keep track as the weather changes. When it rained the other day, the metal turned into this beautiful dark hue of brown,” he said.
When winter snow comes, a mountain of white will surround the piece. At different times of the day, Mooseconstrue’s shadow length and lighting change dramatically, the artist noted. “It truly is an ongoing, interactive piece [with its environment].”
Pachter is hoping the grassy green mound becomes a favourite reading spot and meeting place for students on campus. “Hopefully, they’ll say, ‘meet you at the moose.’”
Photogaph by Kara Dillon
