A pair of signs placed on an old steel billboard frame near the former Dominion Tire factory in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. This public artwork was supported by the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.
The former Dominion Tire factory in Kitchener has had an outsized impact on the development of the surrounding neighborhood, and exemplifies the broader influence of the city’s industrial past on the current form of its built environment. Yet despite its size and significance, the factory can go unnoticed by passersby, just part of the historical industrial backdrop of Kitchener.
This artwork, called Traction, is intended to draw attention to the factory building (now operated by Airboss Rubber Solutions), encouraging viewers to imagine its past and to contemplate the impact of the broader economic trends that it exemplifies on the city’s residential, commercial, and industrial footprint.
Traction consists of a pair of large signs affixed to an old, unused steel billboard frame located on Park Street, a block in front of the factory. The imagery and text on the signs is taken from mid-century print advertisements by Dominion Tire highlighting the superior traction of its Dominion Royal Master tires. The imagery and text underscores the theme of progress through technology that was widespread in post-war North America. The tire tread imagery in particular links to the “impression” left by the factory on Kitchener’s built environment, economy, and residents.
Traction is intended to operate differently than a historical marker or interpretive panel. The connection between the artwork and the factory building may not be immediately apparent to viewers. Instead, it is intended as a prompt to look around, to ask questions. What is this text and imagery? Is it new or old? Why is it here? How does it relate to its surroundings?
I like to involve local history in my art practice to investigate processes through which economic, industrial, and urban development shape our environment, often without our awareness. My goal is to draw attention to these processes by intervening at sites where this history is still visible. To me, public art is at its most effective and engaging when there is a clear rationale for its placement, that is, when it points to, and raises questions about, its immediate surroundings.
The placement of the work on this steel billboard frame is particularly fitting as, in the past, the frame was used to display signs placed there by Dominion Rubber. As shown in the photo below, in 1964, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the factory’s opening, a sign placed in this location commemorated the 40 million tires that had been produced by the factory since its opening in 1914.
Installed dimensions: 80 inches by 138 inches per panel
Archival Image Sources:
University of Waterloo Library. Special Collections & Archives. Dominion Rubber Company Fonds.
University of Waterloo Library. Special Collections & Archives. Kitchener-Waterloo Record Photographic Negative Collection.
Many thanks to:
Region of Waterloo Arts Fund
University of Waterloo Library, Special Collections & Archives
John Lowater and Paul Langenecker / Park Street Parking
Westmount Signs
