micah lexier at the Toronto Sculpture Garden (115 King East) until April 2002. 416-515-9658. Rating: NNN
a month into micah lexier’s pro-cess piece, The End And The Beginning, may be too soon for a critical assessment. After all, the 20th-anniversary project is growing by 420 carefully placed bricks every week for 15 weeks before it reaches its completed form.
But a couple of trips past the park and The End And The Beginning remains under-whelming. It needs more time. By late December the evolving streetscape should morph into a solid wall.
Lexier has a knack for creating public projects that are at once subtle and delightfully obvious — laser-cut steel signatures, that sort of thing. And in two decades of programming, the Sculpture Garden has presented some streetside outdoor installations that made instantaneous and unforgettable impressions.
In experimenting with an elegant, minimalist expression, Lexier is taking a calculated risk — and it may not be paying off. It’s just too subtle. But those who’ve been watching the piece evolve keep going back for more.
