The Third Landscape - Public Artwork

The Third Landsc​ape is a two-part series of temporary public art works aimed at highlighting the overlooked places around us where nature, coexisting with the manmade, is left to its own unsanctioned processes.

  1. Inspired by the work of botanist and gardener Gilles Clement, The Third Landscape is comprised of large fabricated letters temporarily situated on the fringe of Ralph Klein Park (RKP) where a railroad, ditch and native grass intersect. Far from wasted space, The Third Landscape calls attention to the marginal spaces among us where nature is left to perform as it should; places where biodiversity is rich and critical natural processes are often taking place such as that at RKP where the native grasses soak up and filter stormwater before it reaches the Bow River.

    The installation is in place until April 2015.
  2. A series of five film shorts showcase The Third Landscape space around Ralph Klein Park. Set to a guitar composition by a local Alberta musician, the shorts conjure up images of a spaghetti western as a lone horse inhabits the space around RKP’s Third Landscape.

    The films will be screening at:
    • The Plaza Theatre on Saturday, February 21 at 1 p.m. Tristan Surtees, Watershed+ lead artist, will introduce the film shorts at the opening of Cinematheque.
    • The Globe Cinema beginning in early March for up to five weeks. The films will air before all weekend showings.

Over the course of a year, Calgary artist Jay Mosher and Scottish artist Rory Middleton worked as one of four artists in residence through The City of Calgary’s WATERSHED+ Artist Residency program. During the residency, the artist duo worked alongside City staff at Ralph Klein Park, exploring how Calgarians and visitors experience and relate to the watershed.

About the artists

Rory Middleton (of Scotland) and Jay Mosher (of Calgary) are multidisciplinary artists whose paths’ initially crossed at The Banff Centre in 2010. The artists have some overlapping facets throughout each of their individual practices, including an interest in site-specific works, installation and landscape.

​Title of Artwork: The Third Landscape
Artists: Jay Mosher and Rory Middleton

"Jay and Rory's installation and film works playfully and joyously invite us to celebrate the under-considered and little appreciated parcels of land that make up so much of our environment. These left over parcels of land are 'lost spaces' in our City and in our collective consciousness yet these 'Third Landscapes' contribute so much to our urban landscape and the story of stormwater."

- Sans façon, WATERSH​ED+ Lead Artists

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