When you consider the must-haves for a major city, what do you think of? Whatever the choice, I doubt it comes up impromptu constructions from out of a rather remote landfill! But this past week we were awakened by precisely such a phenomenon. Here we go, then, to make some sense of this state of affairs.

Every large city has its generous patrons of the arts, be they individuals or corporations. Disinterestedness is far from the minds of most of them. They are, nevertheless, a crucial factor of plays, ballets and classical music ever being seen and heard. And they furnish much of the art in the art museums. The upshot of such sponsorship is an array of stimulating bids on the part of those having reflective and craft distinction.

This is all well and good, of course; and with public life ever more savage and shallow, it can’t be taken lightly. And also, for busy city dwellers, those gifts inhabiting fine edifices exert a much-needed balance for those who feel the need to be more than technically and domestically effective.

There are, moreover, those who, by instinct and education, have little trouble looking beyond practical solicitude. What such folks not merely like, but crave, is a wider display of craft and innovation—more in the sense of a holistic rather than incidental jolt. That one, or very likely, several builders, have erected expressions of mysterious creativity on a remote Toronto coastline (an ongoing landfill only open to the public on weekends) carries exponentially more energy than an official (“site-specific”) arts sculpture. To realize that there are others out there presenting design considerations in total anonymity and as completely detached from monetary motives ushers us into a most unique and cogent range of action.

Our photos might help establish more clarity about the difference in play.

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