Image Credit: Contributed
November 03, 2015 - 5:00 PM
KELOWNA - If you haven’t heard of them yet, you may well have seen some of them but not realized it. They’re called Fossils from the Future, and these mysterious objects have been appearing in the downtown Kelowna area for the past few months.
The latest fossil has shown up outside of Kelowna City Hall near Queensway. Inside this one is what appears to be a petrified carton of eggs – the everyday kind you find at the supermarket. A metal label underneath reads “A distinctive nest made by a highly evolved bird for its own eggs.” This raises a whole new chicken-and-egg question: why would someone in the future make the effort to send something as commonplace as eggs back to us – unless in the future eggs are not commonplace anymore? What other false conclusions could future civilizations come to from our garbage?
Readers curious about the latest fossil can see it for themselves or they can visit the website www.kelownaartgallery.com/futurefossils to view a brief video featuring Mayor Colin Basran and Councillor Ryan Donn finding this relic outside of City Hall’s side door.
The latest capsule is the fourth of nine pieces comprising an ongoing temporary public art project entitled Fossils from the Future. It is being produced by Okanagan-based artist Johann Wessels, and is presented by the Kelowna Art Gallery.
Johann Wessels’ work has been exhibited widely in South Africa, in the UK, and throughout the Okanagan. Wessels is also the artist who created Side Show, an installation at the Kelowna International Airport that ran from November 2014 to May 2015. He is a mature artist with decades of experience, who is also highly creative, skilled, and talented.
People interested in hearing more about the artist behind Fossils from the Future are invited to join us for a free Lunchbox Speaker Series presentation by Johann Wessels on Wednesday, Nov. 4, from noon to 1 p.m., at the Kelowna Art Gallery.
The three other fossils can be found suspended from the mesh above the Cultural District walkway that runs behind the courthouse between the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the downtown branch of ORL library; on a light standard that has a “busking stop” sign on it, next to the grassy area, to the west of the Rotary Centre for the Arts; and on Bernard Avenue, along the southern edge of Kerry Park, across the street from the Paramount Theatre.
People are encouraged to use the hashtag #futurefossils and to join the conversation – snap a photo, tweet about it, post on Facebook, or even film their own video. A website for the project can be found at kelownaartgallery.com/futurefossils.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015