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All Canada British Columbia Vancouver Digital Orca

Digital Orca

A pixel art killer whale is frozen mid-leap in this Vancouver square.

Vancouver, British Columbia

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Sam
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Digital Orca   Philip Jama on Wikipedia
Digital Orca   PROFaruk Ateş on Flickr
Digital Orca   Wendy Cutler on Flickr
  mordekia / Atlas Obscura User
Digital Orca lit up by the sunset down Thurlow Street.   asherkaye / Atlas Obscura User
Killer Whale   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
Downtown facing view of the Digital Orca   notoriousFIG / Atlas Obscura User
  lusinna / Atlas Obscura User
  lusinna / Atlas Obscura User
  laetitietgrominet / Atlas Obscura User
  Gogostevie / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Like something out of the movie Pixels, Douglas Coupland's public art masterpiece, Digital Orca looks like it is leaping right out of a video game. Or maybe a giant Lego set.

Coupland is better known for his writing than his abilities as a sculptor, but that doesn't make Digital Orca any less whimsical. The statue was installed in 2009 for the Vancouver Convention Centre Art Project. Coupland created the whale to evoke the harbor area's history with a common sight off the western coast, the killer whale. Given Coupland's penchant for exploring technology in his prose, it is no surprise that he has also introduced an element of technology even when creating an homage to the natural world.

Since it is permanently installed there by the seaside, the angular whale had to be built of of sturdy aluminum and coated with a protective powder coating making up the whale's markings. Even though the whale is sturdy enough to handle the corrosive effects of the coastal weather, climbing on the craggy beast is not allowed.

The landowners, a company called Pavco, wanted the computer-age Free Willy wannabe to represent the area, and while it does its job, it also represents Coupland's vision of life in our digitized times. 

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Statues Whales Animals

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Added By

SamM

Edited By

kostas1964ath, EricGrundhauser, lusinna, laetitietgrominet...

  • kostas1964ath
  • EricGrundhauser
  • lusinna
  • laetitietgrominet
  • mordekia
  • notoriousFIG
  • staceykenny11
  • asherkaye
  • Jason Michael Walker
  • Gogostevie

Published

July 22, 2016

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  • http://app.vancouver.ca/PublicArt_Net/ArtworkDetails.aspx?ArtworkID=582
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Orca
Digital Orca
1055 Canada Pl
Vancouver Convention Centre
Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C
Canada
49.289775, -123.11678
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