The P.A.T.C.H. Project (Public Art Through Construction Hoarding)
Artist Commission
2018
For my second time working with the PATCH Project (Public Art Through Construction Hoarding), I was proud to be able to feature a heritage building in Toronto, the Selby Hotel. As an architect, I was happy to capture the mansion as it existed, before the development of a new condo tower on the site.
Toronto’s Selby Mansion has played many roles over the last few decades: a school; a gay bar; a hotel; and a historic landmark.
Through the PATCH project, I was commissioned by Tricon Luxury Residences and MOD Developments, who are responsible for the heritage-informed rental project which is being developed at the same address. In order to make room for the condo, the heritage structure was preserved, and moved forward towards the sidewalk.
I created two additional images for the construction hoarding: one of the Selby Street signs along the street where the hotel is located, and second is the entrance to the nearby Sherbourne Street Subway entrance.
The Sherbourne image was placed on the side of the construction site, whereas the main Selby hotel street image went along Sherbourne Street.
Today, a 49 storey tower towers behind the mansion.
Combining the old with the new and everything in between, I believe that to collapse a hundred moments into one image is to tell the story of the passage of time in an instant. The works, covering over 1200 square feet of expansive hoarding at 592 Sherbourne Street, reflect the architectural evolution of Selby Street.
My work stitches together hundreds of images of the site, much like the site stitches together many histories. I use an overlay technique to represent a different vantage point on the built environment, one that merges multiple instances of the same object, incorporating the element of time.
See more of my Toronto art here and my architectural art here.
steve socha 