What's this new sculpture people are crowing about?

A new piece of public art on LeBretonFlats is ruffling some feathers.

When the Rubber Meetsthe Road,a five-metre-long dead crowskillfully constructed from discardedtires,lays near the bike path a few hundred metreswest of the Pimisi LRT station.

It was installed Tuesday.

The National Capital Commission (NCC)'s rented artworklooks like supersized roadkill and it's meant to.

On Wednesday, Hintonburg resident James Howell stopped to read the panel explaining the piece.

"This large crow lies flat on the ground in a manner that resembles roadkill, symbolizing the collision between human and natural worlds," read Howell, as he stroked his beard.

"That's an amazing piece of artwork," he added.

Well-worn Goodyears and Firestones have been cut and screwed together in layers to create the effect of the beak, legs andplumageof an American crow.

Under the neck, shorter curvedsections of rubber taken from tiresidewallscreatethe characteristicruffles.The smooth insidesurfaces of tiresareusedas tail feathers forcontrasting texture.

Aggressive mountain bike tires have been fashioned into legs to create arealistic figure of a crowlaying dead on its back.

Piece about risk, relationship to nature

"It's portraying something that is dead, so that's not always pretty," said the sculpture's creator, Prince Edward Island artistGerald Beaulieu.

• This PEI artist makes huge crows and golden crowns to wax philosophical

Hesaid he chose the clever, scavenging crow carefully, hoping to createan allegory abouta creature that often surviveson roadkill, but sometimes becomes it.

"The piece is a lot about risk and reward and our relationship to nature and how we approach that especially with our current environmental crisis."

WATCH | The artist's ideas aboutthe piece:

The creator of this dead crow sculpture hopes the piece gets people talking

1 year ago

Duration 0:58

Sculptor Gerald Beaulieu said his piece, When the Rubber Hits the Road, a sculpture of a five-metre-long dead crow, comments on our relationship to nature.

The NCCispaying $14,022 to rent the sculpturefor a yearin line withrates recommended byCanadian Artists' Representation, anational group that advocates for fair dealing with artists.

Onetweet asked, "You paid someone money for that?" and got some traction butonline critics may find themselves eating crow.

In person, passersby found the impactof the sculptureundeniable.

"Some of the comments were like,'Oh this is so ugly,' so I thought I had to see it for myself," said Sonja McKay. "It might not impress everyone, but I appreciate it."

Nearby resident Katie Walsh reflectedon its placement next to a bike path and the LRT tracks.

"In terms of global warming, we have all these forest fires to [be conscious of]in terms of what you are doing to get around," Walsh said.

Beaulieusaid that since he first displayed the sculpture five years ago he has watched people climb, dance and hold yoga classes on the crow.

For him, all of these areacceptable ways to interact with his art.

"The worst outcome for a piece of public art is that it's not noticed," hesaid.