PATH
Located below Toronto’s financial district, PATH is a pedestrian transportation network used daily by over 200,000 commuters and office workers whose jobs take them to the massive office towers above.
A complex maze stretching 30 km, it is also the world’s largest underground shopping complex with approximately 1,200 shops and services employing about 5,000 people. PATH connects 50 buildings, 20 parking garages, six subway stations, two major department stores, eight major hotels, and a railway terminal.
Most of PATH is privately owned by over 35 companies. Security is provided by private security companies - video surveillance is pervasive.
In this documentary work I explore PATH as a microcosm of our society encapsulated within a somewhat surreal and artificial environment.
Social issues prevalent in wealthy urban settings are emphasized in the enclosing space of PATH and include wealth and health disparities, consumerism, the frenetic pace of urban working lives, the pains of loneliness within a sea of humanity, and the sense of unease provoked by constant surveillance.
The surreal nature of PATH is emphasized by its changing face over a 24 hour cycle, ranging from extreme activity to virtual abandonment - a metaphor for our consumer culture.