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Monument for East Vancouver
Category: Public Services & Government Landmarks & Historical Buildings Landmarks & Historical Buildings [Edit]
Clark Drive at 6th AveVancouver, BC
Neighbourhoods: Mount Pleasant, Strathcona, Grandview-Woodlands
25 reviews for Monument for East Vancouver
Review Highlights
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"The famous luminated art piece by Ken Lum." In 4 reviews -
"I love my East Van, and I also love this cross." In 18 reviews -
"It feels me with a bit of glee every time I see it." In 3 reviews
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25 reviews in English
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Review from Christopher N. W.
Vancouver, BC
5/25/2012 8 Check-ins Here
I moved to East Van from the Burbs when I was 17. It was a wake up call being on my own, fending for myself, living in an illegal converted office above a butcher-shop and pretty much always on the brink of starvation; living on cheap beer, rice and pasta while attending art school. Living the dream I suppose...
15 years later - almost as long as I had been alive at the time I moved here - and I have lived exclusively within the confines and boundaries of East Vancouver and spent a great deal of time working, dreaming drinking and fucking here as well. I know this place intimately and by sight and by smell.
East Van is a mentality, a place, a concept, an ideology. It's punk, it's do-it-yourself, it's indie, it's art, it's hipsters and immigrants and youth and the elderly and culture and decay and gentrification. It'a melting pot with problems all it's own. But most of all it's a unique urban space and such a space demands demarcation and recognition so who better than an artist son of East Van to design and have built the iconic sign that shines it's white light beacon across the blighted train-yards toward the glass and steel towers of the downtown. Part warning, part defiant stand. The sign is a part of all of those who make their home here and for this we are and should be proud. I know I am. -
Review from Dru C.
11/28/2011
The famous luminated art piece by Ken Lum. He really represents the Canadian Chinese heritage of Vancouver through thick and thin in the art industry. The very iconic sign can be seen when passing by on the sky train or driving along Clark street. One of the busiest streets in Vancouver.
Ken Lum really changed street art into high art just by representing in a different type of media and by placing it in such an amazing part of town. This monument is made of LED lighting tubes and just placed on a cemented pedestal.
The cement really represents the East Side of Vancouver as it has that view of the new technology at the same time give that essence of pure science and stone to the aspect of the art piece. I really don't like the cross representation as it gives a very religious view on the city, but I know the city very well. The cross does represent a type of wanting to be Liberal and want change, but at the same time want true values of the Christian/church view.
I love the art piece and it was placed at the perfect part of town. The piece is so iconic through out Vancouver, and Ken Lum, one of the most well known in Vancouver has deserve to get this perfect piece to be placed in the city of beauty. -
Review from Henry B.
Vancouver, BC
Ken Lum's masterful public art work evokes pride for East Van residents and mystery and confusion for outsiders. Being a former resident of East Van, I remember seeing it on sidewalks written with chalk, on back of garage doors and on unexpecting business near Commercial Drive. For all those who grew up near Templeton or Van Tech know what I'm talking about.
The East Van cross has religious connotations but it's cancelled out by it's sacrilegious content and affiliation to gang insignia. This iconic symbol has never been officially recognized and that was the only way ken Lum was able to erect this underground symbol with public financing.
The sign sits proudly on the corner of Clark and East 6th Ave on a concrete base. At night, it shines to the West facing False Creek flats warning outsiders, "you ain't in Kansas anymore".
This is the stuff of legends as no one really knows the real origin of the symbol. East Van residents can take pride in such a rich and historic symbol, "East Van Rules". -
Review from Sarah D.
8/13/2011
The west side of Vancouver may have the beaches, the high-end restaurants and boutiques, but East Vancouver has the heart and soul of the city. Ken Lum's Monument for East Vancouver is my absolute favourite public art installation in town. Rising up defiantly to face the west, the East Van Cross is at once religious and sacrilegious, beautiful and gritty. I remember seeing the East Van cross tagged around the city as a kid, and I love how the symbol has been re-appropriated as something the community can be proud of. I must admit, my heart feels full with pride every time I see it. I often have to fight the urge to thump my chest and shout "this is MY house!"
Certainly, this art installation has evoked strong reactions from many residents, which is something all powerful art does. Giving a nod to East Van's rich and colourful history as a place many immigrants called their home, the cross doesn't come without socioeconomic and religious parallels; Lum has been quoted as saying "Christ suffered on the cross. East Van suffers on the cross. The point is: someone is suffering. And immigrants suffer more than most."
The best way to view the Cross is from the skytrain in the evening heading from Main St. station to Commercial Drive/Broadway station. Shining like a beacon into the night, the East Van cross blows the bat symbol out of the water. -
Review from Emily-Anne P.
Vancouver, BC
6/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
As someone who has spent most of their adult life in the Republic of East Vancouver I can say I love this piece.
I am a huge advocate for public art and I am a big fan of the art that the City of Vancouver has commissioned over the last few years. There have been some really amazing pieces to grace the streets and I think that this is one of them.
While I have struggled with the implied imagery of the cross I believe that the food for thought created out of the whole project is quite spectacular.
I am a huge fan of Ken Lum's work and listening to him speak a few years ago about this piece only further cemented his brilliance in my mind.
I love East Van, it's my home, and I'm a fan of this monument. -
Review from Lex B.
12/22/2010 ROTD 3/20/2011
As a resident of East Van who can see this sign after a quick stroll down the street to a break in the trees, as an atheist, and as not-a-gang-member, I like it.
I'm tired of the haters, and people who can't see past what the iconography represents to them specifically and who assume the same translates to everyone who sees it. Art is subjective, you can take the history and breath new life and ideas into an old symbol.
It's both powerful and playful. I love it and I love my neighborhood.Listed in: ROTD
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Review from Evilyn T.
It's cool to be in a gang right? You hang out as a pack, stick up for eachother, rob convenient stores.... okay maybe not the last bit, but the first two fo' sho!
Gangs don't necessarily have to be a bad thing, the definition from Wikipedia is: A gang is a group of people, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. So why are people making gangs such a negative word? Hey man, why can't we start a Red Cross gang filled with people who like to give blood? Or an SPCA gang filled with people who like to volunteer with animals? Or an East Van gang that represents the people in the community who can't afford to live in North Van, or the West End?
And if you don't have your panties in a twist about the gang symbolism, maybe you hate this monument because it looks like the shape of a cross? But I bet all of you people who are hatin' non-believers just got presents for CHRISTmas. The day that celebrates the birth of our lord. So you wanna party for the birth of Jesus but you don't wanna come together as a community as the East Van Gang? That's fucked up.Listed in: Best of the best
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Review from Derek W.
12/30/2010
Public art is a sticky subject, and I often shake my head when I encounter pieces that are bizarre or outside of the public's ability to comprehend. With few exceptions, you shouldn't have to have a degree in art criticism to appreciate public art. I also wonder about public art that has nothing to do with the area it is located.
Lum's Monument for East Vancouver, however, is a strong work that has got the public thinking about East Vancouver's past and present. It is a work rooted in the history of the area where it is displayed. It honours the particularity of place in an era when suburbs sprawl and gentrification, for good or ill, washes away the character of distinctive neighbourhoods.
The work speaks to an area with a rugged past, with references to gang signs, and to religious symbolism held dear by immigrant minorities. Perhaps there is a danger that the work could promote these elements as "cool" or resurrect past antipathies, but the work will more likely innoculate the thoughtful observer to these than lead them down this closed-minded path. Further, the work itself presents a clear act of subversion, defiantly standing tall as it faces wealtheir Downtown and Western Vancouver. Lum himself says:
"[The crossword] signifies the identity of those living in the eastern part of the city and is often accompanied with the word "rules". [This] is ironic, as traditionally those in the west of the city have held the economic and political power....The piece monumentalizes a rearguard gesture of defiance, protest, and assertion of identity."
I respectfully disagree with those who complain that the work is using government funds for religious ends. Good art comments on culture, and culture includes religion. In the case of East Vancouver, religion (and particularly Roman Catholicism) played a key role as a support network for new immigrants and the poor, and gave immigrant youth a positive outlet for identity. Before social services and community centres, the local church was how many marginalized people connected with one another and with already-established members of their own ethnic communities. To exorcise all mentions of religion from local public art would be a step toward rewriting history and forgetting our past.
I am particularly a fan of the work's present location - it is not in a public square (East van has few of these) or park (few of these too), but attached to a bridge. You can just imagine bored East Van kids hanging out in the shadow of it.
Ken Lum's work deserves to be a permentant part of East Vancouver's landscape. -
Review from Jessica O.
Vancouver, BC
12/29/2010 ROTD 12/15/2011
I agree with Lex B. I think that those who think that this has to do solely with contemporary religion or gang symbols are missing the point in an astonishing way.
It's not up to me to interpret it for everyone, but I like to think it represents the fierce identity that East Van residents cultivate as a community. I also think it embodies a certain amount of irony, meant to speak to the ways that the church and mainstream Canadian society have forsaken East Van.
Rather than a civic monument, this is public art , more of which is ALWAYS welcome in my city.
For visitors to Vancouver, a great way to view this monolith is from the VCC Clark Skytrain Station. :)Listed in: My Very Favourites
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Review from Nicole F.
4/10/2011 15 Check-ins Here
I love East Van. I love this Monument because every time I see it I am reminded of all the things I love about my neighbourhood. (even if I am a little further east at the moment)
I'm not entirely sure what it means, but I love how refreshing it is to see such a unique display of art, and from so many different areas in the city.
I also love how thought-provoking it is. There are some very interesting ideas and opinions written in the other reviews. And I think Lex B put it the best. I guess that's why she got ROTD! :)Listed in: Favourites
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Review from Sara M.
12/20/2010
I love seeing this thing from the sky train! It feels me with a bit of glee every time I see it.
I am a huge fan of East Van and think this sign is fun! I am not well versed in the history behind it, and I guess you should have grown up in East Van to fully appreciate all that it stands for....... but I think it's pretty to look at at night and just sort of cracks me up.
Maybe if the West End had a welcome sign this monument could get a little more love :) -
Review from Simon K.
10/10/2011 20 Check-ins Here
I really do not know how to rate this, not one of my favorites at all but built up prior to the Olympics this cross is considered a piece of art. Thinking of this symbol, it has real 'east-side' flare on more of a 'gangsta' point of view. I can see this as a tattoo, but not a huge lit up sign. It is located on Clark Street near the Skytrain station, and whenever I cross it, I still wonder why, but I will say it is not for everyone but still worth a look.
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Review from Johnson C.
Vancouver, BC
Brooklyn has their bridge -- East Van has our cross.
I bleed East Van and my heart swells with pride and nostalgia whenever I see the sign. I've seduced into altering my driving routes to pass by here whenever I can. [*cue up 'Woke Up This Morning' and drive-by with a Tony Soprano scowl*]
Being raised in East Vancouver is an education that I will never trade for anything. Growing up, the East Van cross was ubiquitous - it was sprawled as graffiti, carved into jungle gyms and desks, and drawn in book jackets. Why? Well - it was the gang symbol for the once-notorious East Van Saints. However, despite it's shady origins and obvious religious implications, no one can deny its aesthetic appeal and how it iconic it is for East Van. Over the years, the symbol has been co-opted by bikers and slightly twisted into a Maltese cross. And most recently, it's been a symbol of the resurgence of East Van pride. The artist, Ken Lum, built the perfect monument for East Vancouver and I'm pleasantly surprised that the COV allowed him.
The monument is raw and defiant -- it doesn't shy away from East Van's gritty past (and some would even argue it's still gritty today) . It's an old school symbol - get that regentrification and sanitization shit out of here. The kicker is that the sign faces out west - I think of it as a warning to non-native West Enders that this is the 'bad' part of town. But for anyone in the know, you're entering the cultural heart of Vancouver. When people talk about Vancouver being a beacon of ethnic diversity, they are talking about East Van exclusively.
While it's not as impressive engineering-wise as the Brooklyn Bridge, illuminated by white LEDs and towering in the sky like the Star of Bethlehem, the East Van cross is equally iconic. East Van: STAND UP!Listed in: "You're the best! Around!", East Van Life
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Review from Sachi M.
12/3/2010
I kept looking for the church that this sign belongs to, wondering how they got a permit for such a huge display. Only after finding this on Yelp did I find out that it's more historical than religious.
I still don't get why East Van would want to be represented by (what used to be?) a gang logo, but I guess that makes me an outsider :-/ -
Review from Dave K.
2/2/2010 1 photo
Mark me down as a fan of the East Van sign. I think the only way it could better would be if it was a flaming East Van sign - now that would be a sight to behold!
It reminds me of some kind of Bat Signal - I'm thinking that some Drive-ster superhero may leap from the shadows at any moment, to confront his Evil Yuppie nemesis and force him back into the bowels of Yaletown from whence he came. -
Review from Tabatha Anne Y.
Richmond, BC
12/6/2010 1 Check-in Here
I don't know the historical meaning behind it, in fact I don't know shit about East Van history at all. All I know is that I like this thing. Without reading too much into anything I think it's a symbol of neighbourhood pride, it's well constructed and is visually interesting.
I don't think it's meant to be overtly Christian, it's just one of those things where the words intersect. I've seen it before, it's the shape of a cross, whatever! (OK I just read more about it, and so what? It used to be a gang symbol. The meaning of this image seems to have changed over the years, embrace it!)
I'm not sure why we're reviewing a sign... -
Review from Trude H.
Vancouver, BC
4/14/2010
I love the East Van monument. I love the way it lights up the night. It's a recognition of our neighbourhood - this symbol has been around since the '50's, and maybe earlier, as a tribal identifier; we've even displayed it at a Parks Board meeting when advocating for more park space east of Main Street. I regard it more as a scrabble image than any religious icon.
And young or old, most long time residents recognize the Van East emblem.
I smile when on the east bound skytrain at night -I know I'm close to the comforts of home. I've even pulled some later shifts just so I can be driving along Clark when the sign lights up! This monument bears silent witness to a wonderfully diverse, hard-working bunch of folks. And, Dave K., what a rich visual image - a flaming East Van sign. Maybe stage 2! -
Review from Amanda L.
12/5/2010
Not a fan.
I don't think an image associated with both religion and gang ties should be on such public display.
I personally do not associate myself with religions or gangs and I regret having to see this eye sore every day on my way to and from work from the skytrain window.
Maybe you have to have grown up in East Van to "get it" but I don't appreciate what the image stands for. -
Review from Mathieu Y.
Vancouver, BC
2/2/2010 1 photo
I like that East Van is "officially" trying to identify its culture, and how supportive the city seems to be about this display, and that I can see it from so far away, etc. The design is very bold and well known, and takes this scribble from an East Van Saints jacket patch to an institution representing old and young generations alike. And you can see it from downtown, and along the skytrain entering East Van. So its bold too. Awesome.
I dont like how people are looking in to the cross as symbolism for East Vans religious ties, as the new generation living here seems more athiest and free thinking than ever before! A lot of leftist based idealogies in the city spring from these neighborhoods, and libertarianism seems the expected norm. For some reasone, this didnt strike me as the best symbol for East Van at all, but I cant make another suggestion - I didnt even grow up here (although i've been calling it home for over two years). So again, leave it to the artist to be creative, and the critic to be snobby. -
Review from Roanna Z.
4/3/2010
Well, if this installation is supposed to be a conversation piece, it serves it's purpose!
I don't mind it at all, as it has a very retro look to it with a kind of Gothic edge.
Also it looks cool at night all lit up in coloured neon.
I tried to dig up some history on the design and found out that it used to be all over this part of town, mostly in graffiti.
This incarnation of it was made by Ken Lum, local artist. There was a video about the installation here with an interview of the artist: http://www.youtube.com... -
Review from Shannon B.
Coquitlam, BC
12/6/2010
Haters. I love my East Van, and I also love this cross.
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Review from stan s.
Vancouver, BC
2/3/2010
EYE SORE...
Does this symbolizes a Church in East Vancouver, I'll been glad when it comes down. The sign was constructed with a grant from the City of Vancouver or VANOC. A complete waste of funds and resources.. -
Review from Reena M.
Why is this monument shaped like a cross? Since when did Vancouver become a religious city? And when did this monument go up? I don't like looking at this.. I feel like I'm being judged.
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Review from Emma L.
1/7/2011 11 Check-ins Here
I love the East Van Cross. Regardless of the gang stuff, and the cross symbolism, the Monument for East Vancouver is a giant glowing beacon of East Van pride.
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Review from Michael C.
Vancouver, BC
10/18/2010 58 Check-ins Here
I like this thing at night in the day it looks tacky.
