It will be a surprise to people who regularly visit the west beach in Port Hope.
During the evening of September 11, 2018 and into the early morning hours a group of co-workers and friends installed a metal piece of artwork along the shoreline.
Using the headlights of vehicles, 11 people pieced together Reactor starting at 9:30 p.m. and finishing up just after 1 a.m.
The artwork was the creation of metal sculpture artist Ryan Longo from Toronto who is working on sound for the movie Largo (IT).
The artwork is Longo’s first major piece and took him nearly a year to complete.
“We brought it here to bring awareness to how beautiful the beach is.”
“I created it because I wanted to push myself and push my boundaries and I wanted to express myself,” said Longo.
“I chose a tree as the subject matter because trees are so fundamental to the survival of this planet.”
As a metal sculpture artist, Longo said art means different things to different people, “but art glues this world together.”
“You take what meaning what you can find from it.”
“To me it represents a connection between the earth and the sky which represents your own connection to imagination and reality.”
“Initially when I created it, I was just trying to create a pretty sculpture and then after I created it, then it started to adopt its meaning.”
Longo said he’s worked with a number of film productions, but metal sculpture is his hobby.
Port Hope resident Miranda Lukaniuk-Lipovsek who is also working with the film production works with Longo and knew she wanted to do something to commemorate the visit.
“I really felt like there was a need to tribute this beautiful beach and I also felt the urge to exhibit a large art piece.”
Lukaniuk-Lipovsek and her husband came from Europe where they exhibited large art pieces.
“I’ve lived in Port Hope for six years and I’ve been itching to do that in some capacity and I felt like it was the right time.”
Port Hope Mayor Bob Sanderson was “extremely supportive” of the artwork being displayed on the beach.
Once the artwork was erected on the beach, the group started a fire to sit back and enjoy the early morning..
Looking towards Reactor after it’s completion just after 1 a.m., Lukaniuk-Lipovsek said, “I’m supercharged with energy even though I have to get up really early for work, I feel like I could stay awake for weeks.”
“It was very exciting and an awesome group of friends showed up and I love it.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
