'I'm a jerk': Alberta woman parodies Talus Dome, then finds beauty in controversial art piece
'I'm a jerk': Alberta woman parodies Talus Dome, then finds beauty in controversial art piece
Laurie Keindel and her Talus Dome parody in Devon, Alta., on December 5, 2022 (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton.)
What started out as a way to goof on a high-priced public art installation in Edmonton has become somewhat of a labour of love for Laurie Keindel.
The Devon, Alta., hairdresser makes cool things out of ice every year. She's made displays themed after Star Wars and the Disney movie Frozen. She also formed large ice dinosaurs one year as part of her holiday tradition.
This winter, she decided to create a cheeky ode to the Talus Dome, often called the Talus balls, which is a $600,000 City of Edmonton display featuring 1,000 stainless steel spheres located on the side of Whitemud and Fox drives.
“Mostly, I guess I’m a jerk. I meant to do a parody and as I was building, I kinda liked it,” Keindel told CTV News Edmonton.
“It is 1,000 balls for $600,000. Someone’s gotta pay me right?" She added with a belly laugh.
The local hairdresser covered her front-yard parody in Christmas lights. There's also a penguin, a reindeer and a Santa Claus.
Creating the display was not easy. Keindel spent many hours freezing spheres using balloons and plastic pails. She said it's also kind of dangerous, because the ice sometimes explodes, so she had to wear safety goggles.
Laurie Keindel's Talus Dome parody (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton) and the real Talus Dome in a file photo (Matt Marshall/CTV News Edmonton.)“It was stupid hard,” she said of stacking the ice.
“Each ball is five to eight pounds. On a warm, sunny afternoon, even if it's -20 degrees, they’ll just roll down. They’re heavy.”
Keindel estimated she's made about 300 ice balls so far and said she plans to keep going, in an effort to reach 1,000.
Keindel chose not to share her address but hopes the story and photos give people a laugh and something cool to look at during a cold Alberta winter.
Seven people were killed in two related shootings Monday at a mushroom farm and a trucking firm in a coastal community south of San Francisco, and a suspect was in custody, officials said.
Five billion people are at an increased risk of heart disease and death due to trans fat, according to a new report from the World Health Organization.
An Air Canada customer who tracked her husband’s lost luggage to a public storage facility in Etobicoke, Ont. has been reunited with the bag four and a half months after it went missing. But her search for answers isn't over.
In the process of conserving a 17th-century painting by Dutch master Rembrandt, scientists have isolated an unexpected chemical within the paint, shedding light on some of the techniques used to create ancient masterpieces.
The Canadian military has concluded on the balance of probabilities that Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin 'did not engage in sexual misconduct' after the senior military officer was acquitted of sexual assault late last year.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the federal government is aiming to have long-term funding agreements inked with the provinces and territories ahead of presenting the 2023 federal budget.
A Toronto-based lingerie company, in partnership with cancer survivors and physicians, are launching a campaign to help raise awareness of how breast cancer could present in Black people and urge the federal government to recommend screenings begin at age 40 instead of age 50.
Canada's new guidance on alcohol is sparking plenty of debate, and while some experts say it could lead to frank conversations with health providers to help drinkers make informed choices, others are questioning the advice to imbibe fewer than two drinks per week.
The man Alberta is paying $253,000 to find out what went right – and wrong – with the province's pandemic response has already come to his own conclusions in a report published online last spring.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) said again Monday at 7 p.m. the outage has been resolved and services are being restored. AHS also said it would ask a third party to review what occurred.
Saskatchewan RCMP reported an increase of cryptocurrency frauds last year, leading to nearly $1 million lost in the communities of Swift Current and Maidstone alone.
Indigenous leaders across Saskatchewan are calling on the provincial government to halt an upcoming Crown land auction and to improve the consultation process moving forward.
More than 100 firefighters were called to an industrial building that was engulfed in flames Monday night in Montreal's Saint-Laurent borough. Thick plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing from the burning building on Pitfield Boulevard, near Highway 13.
Paramedics in Cote-Saint-Luc are used to helping others in need, but now they are coming together to help one of their own after a sudden illness abroad.
An Ottawa homeowner is dealing with a major mess and an insurance claim after a major leak in his basement. The leak was discovered a day after a city contractor replaced his water meter.
At least two hundred Ottawa Police Service officers are experiencing payroll issues that resulted in some members of the force receiving less than two dollars on a January paycheque.
Business owners and restaurateurs have come up with a nickname for the area directly south of Parliament Hill with a goal to create buzz. They want to call it 'SoPa'.
An Air Canada customer who tracked her husband’s lost luggage to a public storage facility in Etobicoke, Ont. has been reunited with the bag four and a half months after it went missing. But her search for answers isn't over.
Residents along Cockshutt Road in Brant County are voicing concerns about the safety of the roadway, after a 19-year-old was killed Saturday morning in a single-vehicle collision.
A teenager is recovering at home after a vicious assault at a Winnipeg Transit stop. She was transferring from one bus to another when she was approached and attacked by three people.
A Winnipeg woman is calling on the city to do something about a giant snow pile near her yard, which she says floods her backyard and home in the spring.
British Columbia’s Health Minister is responding to allegations of gag orders and muzzling of the province’s health-care workers after a public outcry and widespread discussion of the issue.
One of the last members of the Vancouver Police Department to see Const. Nicole Chan before her suicide said Chan was angry about the treatment of her complaint that a co-worker was extorting her for sex.
A 31-year-old driver has been charged with excessive speeding after investigators say he was travelling at upwards of 200 km/h when his BMW collided with another vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway in Langford, B.C.
Laurie Keindel and her Talus Dome parody in Devon, Alta., on December 5, 2022 (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton.)
Laurie Keindel's Talus Dome parody (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton) and the real Talus Dome in a file photo (Matt Marshall/CTV News Edmonton.)“It was stupid hard,” she said of stacking the ice.
