The other day I was driving near Yonge and Finch when I made a wrong turn. I found myself driving on some streets that I don’t think I’ve ever been on before. Getting lost can have its rewards….
I discovered pink and blue palm trees in Hendon Park!
Legends Row, Maple Leaf Square
in front of the Air Canada Centre
statues of former Toronto Maple Leaf players,
Ted Kennedy, Johnny Bower and Darryl Sittler
below: Ted Kennedy played hockey for 14 seasons (1942-1957), all of which as a Toronto Maple Leaf. In those 14 years, the Leafs won five Stanley Cups.
below: Sittler – One of Darryl Sittler’s claims to fame was in 1976 when he scored ten points in a singlemgame. On 7 Feb 1976 the Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 11-4. Sittler scored six of those goals and assisted on four others.
below: Johnny Bower was a Maple Leaf goalie from 1959 to 1978. Often he was the oldest man on the team and at the end of his career he was the oldest player in the NHL.
On the 4th of February I posted some photos and information on Douglas Coupland’s ‘Gumhead’. This is the installation where people are meant to interact with a large head by sticking chewed gum to it. The plain black head gets transformed into something new (a sticky mess?). At that point, the head been inside Holts for Men for about two weeks. One of the photos from early in February is this one:
Yesterday, almost three weeks later, I revisited it and this is the photo that I took:
I was expecting to see more gum on the head. After all, a similar piece in Vancouver was totally covered by the time the exhibit finished. As I stood there in my winter walking clothes, i.e. not dressed for shopping at Holts, I thought of a few things.
The Vancouver ‘Gumhead’ was outside with easy access to all.
Although this ‘Gumhead’ is visible from the street, it doesn’t invite people to come inside and interact with it. Unless they have heard about the exhibit, passersby may not realize that they have the option of sticking their own wad of chewed gum on some guy’s big face. In addition, inside a store is not really a public place. It would be interesting to know how many people came in off the street to take a closer look at it. By ‘people’ I mean non-customers with no prior knowledge of ‘Gumhead’.
And anyway, it’s ugly. That’s my two cents worth.
You have until March 9th if you want to get yourself to Bloor and Bellair (near Bloor & Yonge) to participate. Gum is provided.
Time Cone
by Brad Golden and Lynn Eichenberg, 1996.
With help from Christopher Dewdney, poet.
In front of 25 Sheppard Ave West on the SE corner of Sheppard and Beecroft.
A 15 cm stainless steel ribbon, supported by four steel beams, winds its way up to the cone at the top. Cut out of the steel are words that pertain to the geology of the area. ‘Precambrian’ is the bottom word. Other words include Pleistocene Glaciation, Gull River Limestone, Cenozic, Don, and Thorncliffe Till.
extra: In geology, ’till’ is unsorted unstratified material deposited directly by glacial ice.
5 lifeguard posts
5 art installations
5 places to sit and/or get out of the wind
All in one place – along the waterfront at Kew & Balmy Beaches
until 20 March 2015
1. Snowcone by Lily Jeon and Diana Koncan
From the inside of the Snowcone, looking up through the center.
2. Driftwood Throne by Daniel Madeiros
3. Sling Swing by Ed Butler, Daniel Wiltshire and Frances McGeown
4. Wing Back by Tim Olson
5. Hot Box by Michaela MacLeod and Nicholas Croft
This one feels creepy inside. No windows. Interior walls form narrow passageways.
as I walk Toronto 