Toronto+Vancouver City of Labyrinths Project

“A film about Mark Wallinger‘s Labyrinth.
Directed by Jared Schiller

This 30 minute documentary explores the ideas behind Mark Wallinger’s major artwork commission for London Underground,

From the influence of Harry Beck’s Tube map to the Guinness Book of Records’ Tube Challenge,

Alongside personal responses to the artworks by travellers and Underground staff.”

“2013 was the 150th anniversary of the London Underground.

To celebrate, artist Mark Wallinger has created ‘Labyrinth’, a series of 270 unique artworks – one for every station on the network.

The film reveals the inspiration and processes behind the project during a journey that starts in Chigwell, where Mark was brought up, and ends in St James’s Park, the site of the first installed work.

Along the way we also visit Mark in his Soho studio, and a factory in Redhill, Surrey, where the artworks are being meticulously handmade.”

Growing up in Toronto, one invariably will travel the subway system. For years, just east of the Victoria Park station, I would spot this wading pool in the park officially known as Prairie Drive Park but most people think of it as the south end of Warden Woods.

I always thought of the many thousands of people who look through the window of the subway train, and see this empty circle of concrete.

In May 2007, I finally got around to painting a labyrinth there. The circuits are white and I used a thin paint brush. Those choices made it less easy to identify from the distance of a speeding train what it is than I would have liked. More Photos