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Archive for the ‘events’ Category

Villa Toronto

Posted: January 22, 2015 in events, galleries
Tags: art, art installations, art is subjective, contemporary, exhibit, Great Hall, inspired, Iris Haussler, Joseph Wagenbach, light, lights, Navid Nuur, neon, sculpture, shadows, Toronto, ugly, Union station, video

An art exhibit in the Great Hall at Union Station, January 16 to January 23

I’m going to out on a limb a bit here and say like most contemporary or modern art, this exhibit was combination of some shoddily thrown together nonsense and some well executed and interesting pieces.
One of the things that caught my attention was how people reacted and/or interacted with the different parts of the exhibit. Union Station is not an art destination. It’s a space that people walk through on their way to somewhere else.

In the above photo, the women are using a computer monitor to learn about The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach, an installation by Iris Haussler. In 2006 she turned a house on Robinson St. in Toronto into a ‘discovered’ home of a reclusive older man who had filled his house with over 100 sculptures that he had made. At that time there was some controversy when people learned that there was no real Joseph Wagenbach, that his story was fiction. There is a Joseph Wagenbach Foundation with its own website.

A colletion of small sculptures of life like figures in grey and black.

Some of the Joseph Wagenbach sculptures.

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A corner of a dimly lit white walled room. In the

‘Marbled Meanings’ by Navid Nuur.
top right: ‘Broken Diamond’ made of neon, broken glass, argon neon blue light.
center: ‘Threshold’ made of green florist foam blocks

With the above collection, I found that the light and shadows were more interesting than the green column. I don’t know whether or not this was an intentional part of the exhibit.

Neon art piece on a wall. It is shaped like a V, it's turquoise blue in colour and it is a bit bigger than the size of a hand. It is mounted on a wall with the electrical wires visible. It is shadow.

close up of ‘Broken Diamond’

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part of a piece of art that is a pillar like structure cover with bits of colourful paper. There is also a child's drawing in pencil on an 8 by 11 piece of paper. Also a sign in blue letters that says . In the background there are a couple of people walking past.

“I’m going to use the two hundred dollar artist fee from this project to pay my phone bill and with the money left over I’ll probably buy a pack of smokes and maybe order some Chinese food.”
Is this a statement about the value of art? Is this a f*ck you statement – if you, or society, don’t value art why should I (as the artist) care about my work?

A large translucent rectangular piece of fabric hangs from the ceiling. It sort of has a face on it, yellow eyes and a small slit mouth.

Floating overhead and watching us with yellow eyes.

This photo was taken looking into a mirror. A man in a long black winter coat and red scarf is taking a photo of some art on a wall.

reflections

Four people, two are standing together while one texts, and two others are walking past. Four large square paintings (or photos?) are behind them on a white wall.

I know that art is subjective but I fail to see the appeal in large monochromatic pictures in an ugly shade of green. They aren’t profound; they’re not making a statement; they elicit no emotion.

The projector is playing a loop of blank screen to a garbled soundtrack.

An art piece, a shiny silver coloured porta potty stands in the middle of the floor. A trash container (real) is behind it.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the juxtaposition of the arty porta-potty and the real trash container behind it. Someone tried to open the door of the potty but it was either locked or not real. Note to artist: Why?

je suis Charlie

Posted: January 12, 2015 in events
Tags: #jesuisCharlie, Charlie, coverage, CP24, crowd, Dundas Square, event, flags, France, French, Iran, march, nathan phillips square, news, nous sommes Charlie, Paris, people, photographers, rally, remembrance, reporters, Solidarity, support, terror, Toronto, winter

#jesuisCharlie Toronto version.
Rally & march, Sunday 11 January.
Nathan Phillips Square

Close up photo of two small flags, one Canadian and the other French, on the end of a guitar.

flags, music and people

Close up of a sign that says 'Je suis Charlie Toujours en vie! I am Charlie' in black letters on white paper. The sign is being held by someone who is wearing red mitts with big CAN on them in white.

One of the many Je Suis Charlie signs.

Overview of Nathan Philllips Square in front of Toronto City Hall showing a large number of people gathered on a winter day in January to rally in support of Je Suis Charlie.

The crowd part way through the rally.

Part of a crowd of people at the Je Suis Charlie rally. Many are holding signs that say Je Sui Charlie. Most are dresssed for winter weather.

Crowd scene, listening to speeches.

A man is wearing yellow clogs and holding a sign that says Je Suis CHarlie. Ik ben Theo Van Gogh

Theo Van Gogh was a Dutch film producer, writer and actor. He helped create a short film depicting the mistreatment of Islamic women after which he received death threats. In November of 2004 he was murdered in Amsterdam.

A large TV camera is filming a reporter from CP24. People behind the reporter are holding Je Suis Charlie signs.

Many TV reporters were on the scene, including CP24

Je Suis Charlie signs and a few flags

A crowd in front of the stage at Nathan Phillips square on a January day when the Christmas tree in front of City Hall is still there.

The view from behind the stage.

A man is holding a sign that says Ich Bin Charlie

German participants too

more crowd scene

A man is holding three signs. One says 'Je Suis Charlie' and two are in arabic. He standing behind a large white sign withblack letters. The words can't be read in this photo. An Iranian flag is being held by someone standing behind him.

There was also a group there with a large sign that said ‘Free all Political Prisoners in Iran’. A number of Iranian flags were being carried, but they were the flag with the lion in the center.

People are walking through the intersection of Queen and Yonge streets as they march in the Je Suis Charlie rally. A policeman in a yellow jacket is standing in the intersection to help prevent the cars from interfering.

The crowd walked from Nathan Phillips Square to Dundas Square.

Two women. One is holding a Je Suis Charlie sign in one hand and a Starbucks cup in the other. THe other woman has a large pencil shaped sign.

at Dundas Square

return of the zombies

Posted: October 26, 2014 in events
Tags: baby, blood, cameras, clown, costumes, eye balls, gash, nathan phillips square, photographers, photos, poses, scary, selfies, skull, spooky, Toronto, undead, wigs, zombie walk, zombies

….. they keep coming back!
Zombie Walk 2014, Nathan Phillips Square

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worldpress photo exhibit

Posted: October 15, 2014 in events, locations
Tags: Brookfield Place, display, exhibit, looking, people, photographs, Toronto

World Press Photo 14,
a traveling exhibition of prize-winning photographs assembled by World Press Photo.

At the Allen Lambert Galleria, Brookfield Place  until October 21st

These pictures were taken from drones that were flying over playing fields. The shadows of the players look like they are the people.

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Photo on the far left is “A flock of Guillemots (Uria aalgae) in a snowstorm in Vardo, Norway” by Markus Varesvuo of Finland.

LEFT: Survivors of typhoon Haiyan march during a religious procession in Tolosa, on the eastern island of Leyte. One of the strongest cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan left 8,000 people dead and missing and more than four million homeless after it hit the central Philippines. Photo by Philippe Lopez of France.
CENTER: A woman reacts in disappointment after access to see former South Africa President Nelson Mandela was closed on the third and final day of his casket lying in state, outside Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Markus Schreiber of Germany.
RIGHT: A group of blind albino boys photographed in their boarding room at the Vivekananda mission school for the blind in West Bengal, India. Photo by Brent Stirton of South Africa.

nuit blanche 3

Posted: October 13, 2014 in events
Tags: alley, boxes, cardboard, graffiti, manifesto, night, nuit blanche, paint, public art, robots, snbTO, street art, Toronto

Manifesto, in an alley, appropriately enough.

graffiti covered cardboard boxes put together in a robot shape. The face (or head) is a white light. It's an alley.

“You can’t silence my thoughts”

manifesto cardboard box graffiti covered robot like structure in an alley at night

faces on both sides

nuit blanche 2

Posted: October 10, 2014 in events
Tags: amazing, colours, lights, maze, metal bars, nuit blanche, people, rays of light, shadows, snbTO, Toronto, walking

Nuit Blanche – the Amazing Maze.

Some metal framework, some gauze-like fabric, and some interesting lights.

Shadows, lights, and colours to play with.

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nuit blanche 1

Posted: October 10, 2014 in events
Tags: aerialists, cameras, downtown, globes, hanging, inflatable, lights, night, nuit blanch, people, photos, Queen St. West, ropes, scream, snbTO, toilet paper, toilet tissue, Toronto, walking through worlds

Nuit Blanche, night of October 4 to morning of October 5

people on a street downtown at night. 3 large orange cranes with many small palm trees in their baskets overhand the street. they are well lit from below.

Queen Street West near John St., 4:30 a.m.

Stacks of inflatable globes of the world form walls and columns that leave paths for people to walk through.

Walking through the worlds, hundreds of inflatable globes. Even at 4:30 a.m. there was a long line to enter this installation.

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A bright yellow box with the sign "scraming booth" sits on a sidewalk. There is a line up of people waiting for their turn to scream.

waiting for the screams

rolls of light green toilet paper are stacked to make short walls as part of an art installation.

tissue in greens and yellows.

rolls of orange and red toilet tissue look like candles

Looking like candles on tall metal candlesticks.

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hanging

AIDS walk

Posted: September 14, 2014 in events
Tags: #aidswalkto, AIDS, awareness, carnations, downtown, HIV, in memory, MCGP, Miss Teen Canada, people, posters, red, red ribbons, remembering, SIDA, sign, walk, walkathon, walkers, Yonge St.

AIDS Walk, 13 September

Beginning at Yonge Dundas Square…..

Getting dressed and ready to walk.

Making posters to carry in the walk.

….. north up Yonge Street…..

people at the AIDS walk in Toronto. A Sikh man wearing a red turban is holding up a poster about treating and defeating AIDS.

Test. Treat. Defeat.

The walk made its way to the AIDS Memorial in Barbara Hall Park on Monteith Street (near Church and Wellesley).
Here, each walker was given a red carnation to leave at the memorial.

A group of people is winding its way through a park in which there are short concrete pillars. Each pillar has plaques on it with the names of the people from Toronto who have died of AIDS. Red carnations have been placed by the plaques O

Winding their way past the names of those from Toronto who lost their lives to AIDS.

The memorial was opened late in 1992 and dedicated during Pride Week in 1993.
There are about 2700 names now engraved on the plaques. New names are added once a year.

people at the AIDS walk in Toronto. A group of volunteers is cheering on those who have walked so far. They are standing on the sidewalk.

Enthusiastic volunteers cheer on the walkers.

people at the AIDS walk in Toronto. Miss Teen Canada winners, seven of them, are walking as a group. They have stopped to have their photo taken.

A cheerful Team Miss Canada Globe stopped for me for a few moments.

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Money raised in the walk goes to support act (AIDS Committee Toronto).

A small group of people is holding a banner in the walk. The banner says Scotiabank AIDS Walk, in support of ACT . A C T is AIDS committee Toronto.

The lead group in the walk.

Link to the official Toronto AIDS walk website

buskerfest 2014

Posted: August 26, 2014 in events, people
Tags: #samsungsbbf, Ariel, art, balloons, buskers, chalk, chalk chick, clowns, crowds, dogs, DyneMike, entertainment, epilepsy toronto, great dane, littlest mermaid, music, ninja turtles, people, performances, photos, ponies, screech, Screeched Inn, shows, sidewalk, silver Elvis, smiles, stilts, street performers, toast, Toronto, touch2catch, Yonge St.

Buskerfest 2014

Yonge Street was closed from College to Queen for the event.

Yonge St. at Dundas, barrier across Yonge St. as it is pedestrians only. Lots of signs, lots of people,

Yonge Street on the Saturday afternoon of Buskerfest, looking north from Dundas Street

A man dressed in green is on stilts as he walks up Yonge St.

Hovering above the crowd.

There were street performers……

A group of four people are on stilts but dressed in very long pants. Two are playing a drum and two are playing shaking instruments. They are walking down Yonge St. People are on the sidewalks watching them. Street performance as part of buskerfest.

towering over the audience as they walk down Yonge Street

A performer is on a very tall unicycle. He is juggling lit torches as he slowly goes around in a tight circle.

DyneMike, playing with fire on high

A street performer is using a diabolo to entertain a crowd of people who are sitting and standing on the sidewalk around him.

This guy, part of Touch2Catch, was amazing to watch. Great diabolo action!

A performer has been launched into the air. He is holding a large ring that is on fire. He is turning himself through the ring while in the air.

more Touch2Catch – jumping through a ring of fire

One of the street performers from the group Touch2Catch is doing a side flip over a man who is on all fours on the street.

side flip over Dimitri

A picture of buskerfest is displayed on an electronic billboard.

Samsung was putting tweets and instagram postings with their buskerfest hashtag on the electronic billboard above Yonge & Dundas. At one point I looked up and saw this one. A great photo! She captured an unobscured view of the exact moment the performer from Touch2Catch did a side flip over five people.

A woman has taken the silver guitar from Silver Elvis and is pretending to play it while hamming it up for the small group of people that are watching.

sharing the limelight with Silver Elvis …. or taking over? All in good fun!

A woman is having her picture taken with a performer who is dressed in a white dress made of balloons. She has balloon wings and white feathers in her hair.

Photo op with an angel in white balloons. Balloon dresses are available from The Twisted Ones

A street performer is twisting the upper part of his body in order to fit it through a tennis racquet.

What one does in the name of entertainment – putting one’s shoulders through a tennis racquet…. don’t try it at home kids.

….. music

A toast to the cod, screeching in at Dundas Square. The Screeched Inn performed on the stage at Yonge-Dundas Square, their “kitchen party”.

All money raised by performers on the stage at Yonge-Dundas Square went to Epilepsy Toronto.
In addition, Samsung donated $1 to Epilepsy Toronto for every tweet of buskerfest that included the hashtag #samsungsbbf

….. sidewalk artists