Metalwork artist Jeff de Boer puts together metal airplanes for his installation 'When Aviation Was Young' at the Calgary International Airport. The installation, which was installed in 2002, features two colourful carousels with aircraft that rotate when people turn a key at their bases, like a vintage clockwork tin toy.Courtesy of the artist
It was shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks that a Calgary artist installed giant toy airplanes in the city’s airport. He said the windup structures were “aviation prayer wheels” for the fearful and anxious, and “joy machines” for travellers young and old.
Now, after more than two decades on display to millions of travellers, the iconic installation is coming down.
Metalwork artist Jeff de Boer said it’s hard to see his first major commission leave the airport but that he has already been fielding requests for it to find a new home elsewhere in the city.
The six-metre-tall installations operate like a vintage clockwork tin toy with a key at the base for people to turn.Courtesy of the artist
Called When Aviation Was Young, the two colourful carousels have three aircraft each that rotate when people turn a key at their bases, like a vintage clockwork tin toy. It took him about 5,000 hours, or 208 full days, to complete the project that has flown above the heads of travellers since 2002 in the domestic terminal.
Tanis Fiss, a spokesperson with the Calgary Airport Authority, said in a statement the decommission is part of updates to improve the guest experience, which include “replacing carpet and tile, improving lighting, and creating smoother passenger flows.” She added the airport authority also hopes it “finds a new home where they will be enjoyed for years.”
Mr. de Boer said the only requirements of the project were that it celebrate the history of aviation in a way that could be enjoyed by people of all ages. So, he remembers tapping into his childhood imagination and bringing to life the six-metre-tall, and just as wide, kinetic sculptures.
“We were designing it just after 9/11, so aviation was terrifying and dark. I really wanted to come at it the complete opposite – joy, light, movement,” he said. “The Buddhists have prayer wheels and that’s what these are. They’re aviation prayer wheels. They’re there to put all of the bad karma out of the world and, every time someone turns them, they make joy and happiness. They’re joy machines.”
Mr. de Boer works on a plane for the installation. The project took him about 5,000 hours, or 208 full days, to complete.Courtesy of the artist
All of the aircraft Mr. de Boer recreated have historical significance, like the “Jenny” biplane flown by First World War ace Fred McCall in 1919 when he made an emergency landing on a Calgary Stampede merry-go-round after an engine failure.
All of the aircraft Mr. de Boer recreated have historical significance.Courtesy of the artist
There’s also the single-engine G-CASK aircraft used in the North for bush flying and the Calgary-based Kenn Borek Twin Otter aircraft, which provided air support for oil exploration activities in the Arctic region.
“What I’ve realized in the last couple of days is how grateful I am. With any work of art, you turn off the lights and it does nothing,” said Mr. de Boer. “It was Calgarians that brought this to life. It’s their imaginations that gave it purpose and meaning.”
He said this installation was his “make it or break it” moment and set in motion the next 20 years of his life. He has since completed artworks for the local children’s hospital and Glenbow Museum, in addition to a memorial for the 2016 Fort McMurray, Alta., wildfire and sculpture outside of the Calgary Stampede grounds.
“If you want to be taken seriously in the art world, you don’t have to make serious art. Just have fun,” said Mr. de Boer. “I did this for everybody’s child. That was my target. It wasn’t about me. It had to be about doing the right thing in that space and I think I pulled it off and I’m very proud of that.”
Even though the toy airplanes are leaving, other sculptures from Mr. de Boer live on in the Calgary airport, including larger-than-life tin animals in the domestic area and wire-frame animals on the international side.
He said building the airplane installation, which is 17 pieces total, was like “getting a ship into a bottle” and said it will be no easy task to remove it, but he’s excited for what comes next. Interest has come from people and organizations all over the city, and even an elementary school in Tanzania. What’s most important to him is conservation – keeping the piece alive for years to come.
Alanna Smith