A wonderful abundance of fresh fruit and veggies at this time of year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted: October 11, 2015 in general TorontoTags: apples, broccoli, carrots, celery, colours, green peppers, leeks, markets, onions, peppers, produce, radishes, red peppers, squash, tomatoes, veggies, zucchini
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An Te Liu
Posted: October 11, 2015 in events, public artTags: An Te Liu, bronze, cast, extended, found material, nuit blanche, sculpture, snb2015, snbTO, Toronto sculpture garden
‘Solid State’ an exhibit of sculptures made from found material that are then cast in bronze, by An Te Liu at the Toronto Sculpture Garden on King Street East. This is one of the Nuit Blanche installations that is still on view. It is co-produced by MOCCA (Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art) and the City of Toronto.
below: Three sculptures. From left to right are: 1. Meta-matic, 2. Tourist, and 3. Ascension
below: Vegetable, Mineral
below: Remains of the Day
Go Jays Go
Posted: October 10, 2015 in eventsTags: baseball, baseball caps, cheering, chicken costume, crowds, drums, face paint, fans, go jays go, interview, paint, people, Rogers Centre, T-shirts
It would be fun to write a post about the winning ways of the Blue Jays and up until two days ago I could have. After a great ending to the baseball season, the Blue Jays entered the playoffs with back to back afternoon games against the Texas Rangers here in Toronto. Yesterday the Rangers beat us 5 to 3. Again today, the Blue Jays lost by two runs but this time it took 14 innings, or close to 5 hours.
The Rogers Centre holds just over 49,000 people and it was filled to capacity both days.
The next two games of the American League Division Series are scheduled to be played in Texas on Sunday and Monday. If a fifth game is needed (it’s a best of five series), it will played in Toronto on the 14th of October, next Wednesday.
Keep your fingers crossed!
silent knight
Posted: October 9, 2015 in events, galleries, public artTags: barn owl, ekonomical, Ekow Nimako, foot, Gardiner museum, lego, nuit blanche, sculpture, silent knight, snb2015, snbTO, talons, wing
Silent Knight by Ekow Nimako,
a sculpture of a barn owl using more than 50,000 pieces of LEGO,
on display in front of the Gardiner Museum as an extended Nuit Blanche exhibit
#snbTO
one blue, one naked
Posted: October 8, 2015 in events, public artTags: Allan Gardens, billboards, downtown, extended projects, Francisco Fernandos Granados, headless, Luis Jacob, naked man, nuit blanche, refugees run the seas, snb2015, snbTO, Sphinx, statue, Toronto
Some of the art installations from Nuit Blanche remain available for viewing this week.
Two of them are near Jarvis and Gerrard.
below: As you travel south on Jarvis Street, just before Gerrard, you can see a billboard art installation, ‘Refugees run the seas’ by Francisco Fernandos Granados. The accompanying sign says: “‘Refugees run the seas’ draws and diverts from pop culture as a way to invite the viewer to imagine a future where justice for migrants exists. The work evokes past and present scenes of harrowing escape while allowing the possibility of a time to come when those seeking refuge will be agents of movement, rather than victims.”
“Refugees run the seas ’cause we own our own boats” is a line from Wyclef Jean’s rap in Shakira’s song ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ in case you were wondering how this billboard “draws and diverts from” pop culture.
below: In the Children’s Conservatory at Allan Gardens is another installation. This one is titled “Sphinx” and it is by Luis Jacob of Toronto. According to the Nuit Blanche sign: “Toronto is changing before our eyes. Neighbourhoods and skylines are transformed seemingly overnight while the social fabric of the city is altered in ways that are difficult to discern. Come in and see the ‘Sphinx’, who poses questions that we want ardently to ask.”
The hands and fingers of this tall and imposing headless man are forming a frame that is apparently supposed to capture our attention. When you walk into the conservatory it’s definitely not the hands that you notice. The hands are way above the line of sight. Of course, one could ask why he has no clothes and does having no head enhance the artwork. Can you ask questions if you have no mouth, no voice? And are the questions ardently wanted or ardently asked? hmmm….
There are books and pamphlets in display cases around the room. These publications are all about Toronto and they date back as far as 50 years ago. No, you can’t access the books, you can’t open or read them. I’m not sure what information they are supposed to add to the exhibit.
#snbTO
playing in bubbles
Posted: October 8, 2015 in events, peopleTags: #15daysofhappy, birthday party, bubble, optimum card, paper, people, photographs, posing, Shoppers Drug mart, Yonge Dundas Square
Totally unexpected… walked past Yonge Dundas Square this afternoon and happened upon Shopper’s Drug Mart’s 15th birthday party for their Optimum program. There was a DJ, music playing, and a couple of people dancing. There were acrobats but I just missed their performance. The main attraction was a large clear plastic bubble filled with many bits of coloured paper the people were lining up for…. a life sized confetti globe.
Once inside, people were posing for photographs.
Pictures were printed on the spot for those who wanted them.
It was also part of a contest for gift cards and vacations.
I didn’t go in the bubble but I did score a loot bag by showing my Optimum card.
I now have some candy and a small bottle of brown nail polish.
#15daysofhappy
58th World Press Photo Contest
Posted: October 3, 2015 in events, galleriesTags: Allan Lambert gallery, Brookfield Place, China, contemporary issues, football, images, people, photographers, photography, pictures, portraits, sports, world press
At Allan Lambert Gallery, Brookfield Place,
winning photos from the 58th World Press Photo Contest
Winning images chosen from 97,912 photographs taken by 5,692 photographers from 131 countries.
below: Taken by Andy Rocchelli of Italy, part of his series of ‘Russian Interiors’ portraits. There were 10 photographs in the series, three of which are shown here (well, two and a half). All were of women.
below: One of the multitude of Chinese migrant laborers, a factory worker in in Yiwu China. His job is to coat polystyrene snowflakes with red powder. There are 600 factories in Yiwu and they produce 60% of the world’s Christmas decorations. Photo by Ronghui Chen, second prize winner in the Contemporary Issues category.
below: The three winning photographs from the Sports (Singles) category. The predominant photo is the second prize photo; it is a photo of Odell Beckham of the New York Giants making a one handed touchdown catch, taken by Al Bello. The winning sports photo is the one on the far left. It is a photo of Argentine football player Lionel Messi receiving the Golden Ball trophy at the World Cup in Brazil, taken by Bao Tailiang. In the middle is a picture of Philip Hughes, a cricket batsman who was hit on the head by a ball during a game, taken by Mark Metcalfe.
below: The winning photo, by Danish photographer, Mads Nissen of Jon and Alex, a gay couple, sharing an intimate moment at Alex’s home, a small apartment in St Petersburg, Russia. (It looks better in real life!)
crushed and bundled
Posted: October 2, 2015 in events, public artTags: aluminum, art, artist, bottles, cans, city, city hall, garbage, nuit blanche, plastic, recycling, Sean Martindale, solid waste, tin, Toronto, trash, waste
below: Coke, Dole juice, Diet Coke, Fanta orange, cans, cans, and more cans.
below: Coors beer, Canada Dry, Nestea, more Fanta, more Coke, all crushed and ready to be recycled.
The City of Toronto collected about 200,000 tonnes of blue bin recyclables in 2014. Since a tonne equals 1,000 kilograms, that’s 200,000,000 kilos of recyclable plastic bottles, pop cans, tin cans etc.
Piles of crushed recyclables collected from Toronto’s blue bins are stacked along Bay Street beside City Hall. They will be part of an installation entitled ‘There is No Away’ for Nuit Blanche this coming weekend. This work was sponsored by the city’s Solid Waste Management committee and put together by artist Sean Martindale. This installation hopes to raise awareness of just how much garbage we produce and throw “away”.
National Seniors Day
Posted: October 1, 2015 in eventsTags: age groups, ages, CARP, city hall, flag raising, Moses Znaimer, numbers, Pam McConnell, population, seniors day, speeches, stats
National Seniors Day, 1st October
Just this week StatsCan announced that the number of Canadians older than 65 was more than the number of Canadians under 15. There were 5,780,900 Canadians 65 and older (16.1% of the population) compared to 5,749,400 who were under 15 years old (16%).
The results of the last census in 2011 showed that Toronto had a population of 2,615,060, 14.4% of whom were over 65.
There was a CARP Flag Raising ceremony at City Hall today to celebrate the contributions of older adults across Canada. CARP, formerly the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization that concerns itself with issues that affect the older members of our communities. Membership is no longer restricted to those over 50 years old; the societal challenges posed by aging populations are a concern to people of all ages.
below: CARP president Moses Znaimer and a woman (my apologies for not knowing who it is) listen to a speech by Toronto city councillor Pam McConnell prior to raising the flag.
Population by age group in Canada, as of 1 July 2015. All numbers from Statscan.
The largest group are those between the ages of 50 and 54
A full report, prepared by the city, of the population of Toronto in 2011 and how it compares to that of 2006 is also available.
30,000 moths
Posted: September 30, 2015 in galleriesTags: art, art gallery, black, black cloud, clerestory, contemporary, contemporary art, Harbourfront, moths, paper, power plant, PPBlackCloud, swarm, waterfront
The exhibit is called ‘Black Cloud’ and it consists of thirty thousand black moths, each one individually attached to the walls and ceiling of the clerestory of the The Power Plant Gallery. Artist Carlos Amorales has reproduced the shapes and sizes of thirty six different species of moth with black paper. They swarm towards the lights and they congregate in the corners. It’s a fascinating display both in the overall composition and in the attention to small details. This installation first appeared at an art gallery in Paris in 2007.
As much as I liked the display, I was glad they weren’t real moths!
#PPBlackCloud
as I walk Toronto 