The Elephant House
Encyclopedia
The Elephant House is the nickname for a house on Yarmouth Road in the Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-Junction neighbourhood of Toronto
, Canada
, which has a sculpture
of an elephant
in its front garden. The sculpture was made by Toronto artist Matt Donovan, while he was a student.
skeleton. It was originally part of an installation, which included a bronze red herring and a flock of life-size concrete black sheep; two of the latter were given to a professor, the herring kept by Donovan, and the elephant stored in his parents' basement.
In 2003, it was obtained by Mr Lawson, a University of Toronto
IT specialist and new home owner, who said, "From the moment I saw it, it just made me laugh." He reports about 20 cars a day stopping to look at the sculpture and people approaching his front door "more frequently than I want."
There have been several radio, TV and newspaper articles about the elephant, along with some other neighbourhood oddities such as at Albino Carreira's nearby house on Clinton covered in tiny wood cylinders and Andy Parashosh's Greek-temple style house on Shaw Street.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, which has a sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
of an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
in its front garden. The sculpture was made by Toronto artist Matt Donovan, while he was a student.
History
The sculpture of the Elephant was created in 1999 by Matt Donovan as part of his thesis project at Ontario College of Art and Design. It has a fibreglass body, coated with auto body filler, over a plywoodPlywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
skeleton. It was originally part of an installation, which included a bronze red herring and a flock of life-size concrete black sheep; two of the latter were given to a professor, the herring kept by Donovan, and the elephant stored in his parents' basement.
In 2003, it was obtained by Mr Lawson, a University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
IT specialist and new home owner, who said, "From the moment I saw it, it just made me laugh." He reports about 20 cars a day stopping to look at the sculpture and people approaching his front door "more frequently than I want."
There have been several radio, TV and newspaper articles about the elephant, along with some other neighbourhood oddities such as at Albino Carreira's nearby house on Clinton covered in tiny wood cylinders and Andy Parashosh's Greek-temple style house on Shaw Street.