Passengers

In nature, many animals travel from one place to another periodically in order to feed, mate, or escape adverse seasonal conditions. These migrations are driven by daily or seasonal cycles, and are often undertaken in groups or herds. But it’s not just the flock of geese in the spring and fall or the massive herds of caribou making their way to the Arctic. In our modern, urban environment droves of commuters migrate from home to work and school and back again. Our daily commute echoes similar patterns of traveling to find food and shelter that exist across the animal kingdom.

O’Neill O’Neill Procinsky Architects, the firm responsible for the design of the South Campus LRT station, were inspired by the prairie landscape in the creation of the structure. Edmonton artist Ray McAdam’s piece, Passengers, puts birds in the sky of this landscape. The work consists of stylized birds, made in transparent plastic, suspended along wires and illuminated by LED lights. Each bird is in a different stage of flight to simulate the movement of a real flock of birds.

Passengers is strongly influenced by McAdam’s background in Industrial Design in terms of the functionality and materials used to create the piece. While it is not a functional light source for the station, it does have utilitarian lighting technology integrated in its design. And the material itself is a contrast to the subject matter — plastic is a modern material of the mass-production generation.