Allochory is surrounded by motion-activated lighting located at the four cardinal directions. When visitors stand in front of the sculpture, a corresponding spotlight is activated. The entire sculpture is illuminated when visitors surround the work and activate all the lights.
Allochory refers to the process of seed dispersal wherein any number of factors contribute to the ultimate resting place of a tree’s offshoot. The piece speaks to the opportunistic, industrious and faithful behaviours of coniferous trees and their journey of renewal relative to the realities of their environment. Allochory is a representation of unanticipated tension and beauty found in nature, and the human attempt to understand, emulate and nurture it.
The structure’s assembly borrows everyday objects found both in nature and horticulture, giving each of them renewed emphasis. The pine cone, a beloved-yet-ordinary symbol of growth and transformation, is as a reminder of the millennia-long efforts of coniferous trees to grapple with changes in their environment. The shovel, an everyday tool for working with the earth, instead works laterally to constitute something far greater than its individual potential.
Artists
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Robert McKaye
Collective Memory was co-founded in 2018 by Bulgarian Canadian artist Stoyan Barakov whose sculpture and installation work addresses themes of nostalgia and preservation, and Robert McKaye, a Canadian architect and designer with a penchant for prototyping. Our work blends design and art that incorporates the context of a place, natural elements, and handcrafting. We strive to encapsulate the intangible qualities of memory and shared histories within the urban condition, resulting in works that are both familiar and fantastical. Through a combination of traditional methods for fabrication and tools for digital design, our work is experimental and rooted in cultural and social mythologies.
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Stoyan Barakov
Collective Memory was co-founded in 2018 by Bulgarian Canadian artist Stoyan Barakov whose sculpture and installation work addresses themes of nostalgia and preservation, and Robert McKaye, a Canadian architect and designer with a penchant for prototyping. Our work blends design and art that incorporates the context of a place, natural elements, and handcrafting. We strive to encapsulate the intangible qualities of memory and shared histories within the urban condition, resulting in works that are both familiar and fantastical. Through a combination of traditional methods for fabrication and tools for digital design, our work is experimental and rooted in cultural and social mythologies.
