As part of the District of Saanich's 100 Birthday Celebration (2006), a public art competition was held in conjunction with the completion of a Centennial trail project. The theme for the open competition was Family and Celebrating 100 Years of Saanich.
"My approach to the (competition) theme of Family and Celebrating 100 Years of Saanich was to discover an image or idea that could suggest both and remain direct and elegant. I wanted a sculpture that could leave an impression with people who will pass it by, as well as those who will want to engage more fully with the work. Measuring time, marking time, and the community's effect on the landscape, became the collective focus through which I formulated my ideas." Tyler Hodgins
The artwork, with its 100 concentric rings, is meant to suggest the lines created by the growth of a Douglas Fir tree over a 100 year period. As the width and contour of a tree's rings tell a story of its passage through time in a particular place, the changing nature of the sculpture's steel rings can also be a metaphor for the evolving and expanding nature of a family or community. The placement of the sculpture at ground level achieves the effect of making it approachable for those passing by. Viewers can gaze at or through, touch and even sit in this sculptural representation of time. In forming the artwork out of steel, the artist wanted to create a contrast for the viewer between the natural setting of the artwork, and the industrial business in the immediate area. The surrounding farming activity in the valley also provides context for the art work. In reference to Saanich's agrarian past, the steel rings have left their mark on the concrete base the art work sits on, as the blades of a farmer's tools would mark the earth. The changing shadows cast from the piece also mark and record the passing of time.
