Welcome to the Vancouver Lexicon. Its purpose is to pin down the patois of the City of Vancouver by recording its toponyms, nicknames, slang terms, personalities, places, and other Van-centric things. Full A-Z here.

Trans Am Totem | public art | An outdoor public art installation on the edge of False Creek where Quebec Street connects with Milross Avenue at the end of Pacific Boulevard. Erected in 2015 for the Vancouver Bienniale by artist Marcus Bowcott, it sees the trunk of an ancient cedar tree supporting five vehicles stacked one on top of the other, with the namesake white Trans Am on top. It is, according to Bowcott, “a meditation on contemporary technological culture in relation to Vancouver and its history […] Each car – ‘extension of our bodies’ – projects its own, unique aesthetic. In aggregate, they refer to our dominant consumer culture. The ubiquitous presence of cars in our midst has fundamentally re-shaped our landscape.”

In the Spring of 2019, the future of the Trans Am Totem was secured as a permanent piece of the city’s public art collection thanks to a $250,000 donation by Chip and Shannon Wilson.

Usage: “I was all for taking the viaducts down until I realized we’d lose the Hot Wheels optical illusion of the Trans Am Totem…”

Trans Am Totem

Neighbourhood: False Creek

Quebec St. at Milross Ave.