One Man's Gas Is Another's Treasure

Someone is blurring the line between art and industry on Merton Street just east of Yonge. That's where you'll find this fairly typical valve and meter assembly supplying natural gas to a local office building. But is that all it does? Closer inspection reveals a gallery-like description suspended from one of the pipes:

Title: "Quo Vadis"
Sculptor: Warga Baskerville
Medium: Steel Pipe

Industrial artifacts and designs can definitely have a beauty all their own, but not many people would normally confer that honour onto something as basic as a natural gas pipe. Quo vadis (Latin for "Where are you going?") will soon disappear behind a budding shrub until next winter, leaving its namesake question unsettled for another six months. Perhaps the question should be, "Is it art just because someone says it is?" Why not?

Quo Vadis sports no official price and the nameplate has no little red dots. Get your offers in while you can.

Photos by Val Dodge.