water | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘water’

we’ll start with ravens and flamingos

Posted: February 22, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, old buildings
Tags: alley, alphabet, artist, black birds, boy, Bruno Smoky, buildings, College Street, cowboys, creatures, crows, dogs, Dufferin Grove, faces, fiya, flamingos, graffiti, J Bizzel, Johnathan Ball, junk, Katia Engell, lane, mud, mural, painting, park, people, ravens, reflections, Runt, shalak, spray paint, stores, street art, sunshine, trees, truck, water, witches, woman, words

below: I doubt she’s saying that she loves the sunshine THIS MUCH! but I’d like to think she is. That’s certainly what was going through my head for most of the weekend so I’m going to pretend that she agrees with me!… especially since I am writing this as the rain falls outside my window.

But back to those ravens and flamingos that I promised you…..

below: But not everyone’s happy. Witches brewing with ravens and crows nearby. There always seems to be symbolism associated with these large black birds so I went searching for information. Ravens and crows are found throughout most of the northern hemisphere so many diverse cultures have their own mythologies surrounding these birds. The best summary I found was this, “On the negative side, Raven represents the profane, the devil, evil spirits, the trickster and thief, war and destruction, death and doom, the void. Yet in many cultures Raven also represents deep magic, the mystery of the unknown, death and transformation, creation, healing, wisdom, protection, and prophecy. ” (source) We don’t know exactly what Fiya Bruxa, Shalak, and Bruno had in mind when they painted this mural but I doubt that it was something positive – those witches look rather angry and nasty.

below: From the vengeful looking faces above to these hopelessly romantic flamingos is just a matter of a few steps along College Street. They’re the center part of a larger mural by Katia Engell.

There are 4 flamingos altogether and they are in between two other murals.
In the picture below you can just see the yellow of an alphabet mural by runt

below: Too many things in the way makes for an awkward photo but you can still see enough of it to play the game of what creature goes with what letter! R is for robot dog? Z is for zlithering thingy with rings?

below: J is for jumping purple blob? C is for coughing-up- dinnersaurus?
And look, an alley to explore……

Wait! Before going down the alley I want to take a few steps backwards. Remember that I mentioned that the flamingos were between two murals? This is what is on the other side…..

below: Three cowboys in a mural signed by J Bizzel 4 Shizzel.
The one with his shirt off is the one under the air conditioner.

below: This strange but happy fellow was waiting in the alley.

below: If you look closely at this painting, you will notice that the wavy lines continue behind the bars of the railing and that there is only a small distance between the railing and the wall. That was not a simple paint job.

below: ‘Such a fool’ and someone to agree with it.

below: I’m not too sure what to say about this one. Vermut? or Vermouth? Too much vermouth and you take your clothes off, versmut? Bad joke.

That’s the end of our little tour.
Find a sunny spot and pull up a chair and rest your feet for a few minutes.

Tomorrow there will be puddles to go splashing through…
but that’s a story for another day.

Flotsam and Jetsam and others

Posted: February 21, 2017 in people, public art, waterfront
Tags: art, beach, blue, bottles, boys, chairs, clear, Collective Memory, empties, evergreens, families, flotsam, Flotsam and Jetsam, girls, interactive, jetsam, kids, Lake Ontario, lifeguard stations, messages, North, notches, ovals, paper, pine, plastic, recycling, reflections, reflective, reusing, studio PERCH, The Beacon, The Illusory, trees, University of Waterloo, water, Waterfront BIA, waterfrontTO, winter stations, wood

Two empty chairs sitting in the sun. This photo is only a half truth; it suggests that the beach was sunny but empty yesterday when I took the photo. Sunny yes, empty no.

Back in the winter of 2015, I discovered the first “Winter Stations” event on a day when the temperature was -20C. There weren’t many people there that year! In contrast, yesterday was a beautiful and unseasonably warm February Sunday. Temperatures hit the double digits and lots of people come out to take advantage of the weather. It was also the first weekend of the 2017 version of ‘Winter Stations’. Although the installations officially opened today, all but one of them were completed and ready for the public yesterday.

below: One of the installations is “North” which was designed by studio PERCH in Montreal. Yes, it’s Christmas trees hung upside down. They are prickling to walk between. This year there seems to be a recycling and reusing theme in a lot of the installations. At least I hope these trees weren’t cut down specifically for this project.

below: Another installation is “Collective Memory” designed by Mario Garcia (Barcelona Spain) and Andrea Govi (Milan Italy). People are encouraged to leave messages in the bottles.

below: Paper is provided as are the bottles. The walls are constructed of horizontal empty plastic water bottles with the openings all on the inside of the structure.

below: The sun shining through the plastic bottles makes for some interesting effects.

below: Like most of the installations, “Collective Memory” encloses a lifeguard station.

below: The installation that wasn’t ready yet is “The Beacon” designed by Joao Araujo Sousa and Joanna Correia Silva (Porto Portugal).

The installation in the background in the above photograph is “BuoyBuoyBuoy” designed by Dionisios Vriniotis, Rob Shostak, Dakota Wares-Tani, and Julie Forand (Toronto Canada).

below: One of many photo ops!

below: Notched ovals made of wood and clear plastic were used to build this installation. The wood pieces were either painted white or covered with silvery reflective material.

below: More reflections, this time in “The Illusory” designed by a group from Humber College School of Media Studies & IT, School of Applied Technology.

below: Someone has already written on (scratched?) the surface.

below: “The Illusory” in front, “Flotsam and “Jetsam” behind, and lots of people in between.

below: “Flotsam and Jetsam” was designed by a team from the University of Waterloo. It consists of cubes made of wire cages. The cages on the bottom are filled with empty plastic bottles of different colours and shapes.

***

The Winter Stations will remain until the 27th of March.

one reason is…..

Posted: February 15, 2017 in Uncategorized
Tags: beach, blue sky, Caribbean, ocean, palm tree, sand, swimmers, water

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted for a while. Quite a while actually.
Reason # 1? I spent some time on a beach. It was sunny. It was warm.

Friars Bay and beach, St. Martin, Caribbean. palm tree, turquoise water, white sand beach, rocks in the foreground, sunny blue sky day. One boat in the water as well as a few swimmers

Not a Toronto beach!

evening Oblivion

Posted: October 7, 2016 in events, locations
Tags: colours, dark, Director X, evening, events, Floria Sigismondi, fountain, globe, kids, lights, Nathan Phillips, nuit blanch, people, photographs, Pneuma, projections, selfies, spray, tourists, water

I missed Nuit Blanch this year. While I was away, I heard lots of good things about the installations at Nathan Phillips Square, including the fact that they will remain until the 10th of October.

Silly me went during the day. It didn’t look too impressive then!
There were lots of tourists taking pictures.

and schoolkids hanging out by the 3D Toronto sign.

Oh right, it’s a night time, after dark sort of thing. Come back after 7 p.m.

So last night I went back at 7 p.m. …. but last night was also the first game of the Blue Jays playoff series against Texas and it was playing on a large screen in the square. I watched the end of the game. There wasn’t a very large turnout, but the atmosphere was great. Everybody was in a good mood as the Blue Jays won 10 – 1.

Shortly after the end of the game, the large 14 metre globe that represents the sun lit up. “Death of the Sun” by Director X (Julien Lutz) began.

The sun starts as a swirling orange and yellow globe.

It then turns orange before the colours die out and fade to nothing.

At one point the sun lets off steam, gas, fog (whatever you want to call it) before it goes silent.

The end of the sun signals the start of “Pneuma”. Images by Floria Sigismondi were projected onto a wall of water under the arches in the square in what appears to be a short film full of symbols.

‘Oblivion’ is the name given to the collection of installations at City Hall. Both of the artists come from the world of video. Sigismondi has previously made videos for the like of Rihanna, David Bowie and Marilyn Manson while Director X has worked with Rihanna and Drake.

It was an interesting installation…. well done technically and fascinating to watch.

two hands silhouetted on a large yellow globe representing the sun, night time.

We tried to push the sun back into the sky, but we failed.

#nbTO2016 | #DirectorX | #pneuma | #floriasigismondi

seven new murals plus

Posted: August 26, 2016 in graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: bacon, braes, Broadview, characters, Chichen Itza, Chinatown East, Chinese, Christ the Redeemer, equal, frens, Gerrard East, great wall of China, hemps, hone, hummingbird, Jesus, kane, kwest, Machu Picchu, mayan temple, murals, Nick Sweetman, panda, parking lot, petra, poser, rath, red dragon, rio, rons, sewp, sight, statue, Taj Mahal, tens, tenser, tiger, wales, water, wuns

Updated 2 September

The latest StreetARToronto (StART) summer project has just wrapped up. Seven new murals around Broadview and Gerrard East, each one depicting a famous landmark, make up this project which is now called ‘Around the World in East Chinatown’. Although it was largely funded and organized by StART, other partners include the Toronto Parking Authority, 55 Division police, and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce (East Toronto).

A crew of more than 20 artists headed by Mike Kennedy worked for about 2 weeks to complete the murals. Each mural includes the ‘signature’ of the artists. I am not very good are deciphering (or remembering) the graffiti writing but I’ve had some help identifying the artists.

below: Christ the Redeemer now watches over Gerrard East. Painted by bacon. This is the statue built high on a hill overlooking Rio de Janeiro. If you watched any coverage of this summer’s Olympics you probably saw this statue from every possible angle. The statue was designed by a Frenchman, Paul Landowski and built by a Brazilian engineer, Heitor da Silva Costa, between 1922 and 1931. Made of soapstone and reinforced concrete the statue stands 30m tall and has an arm span of 28m. He stands on an 8m high pedestal.

below: Putting the finishing touches on The Great Wall of China, a collaborative effort by Nick Sweetman, Wuns, Rons, Tens, Braes and Wales. The actual wall was built in sections over many centuries and includes walls, trenches and natural elements such as hills and rivers. Parts of the wall are in better repair than others – around Beijing where more tourists visit, the wall has been fixed up and is well maintained. Measurement of the wall varies but if all the branches of the wall are taken into consideration, the total length is about 21,000 km.

below: A hummingbird flies over Machu Picchu in the next mural. Machu Picchu was built by the Incas in the 15th century in what is now Peru. It is on a mountain ridge, 2430m above sea level.

below: Machu Picchu. Painted by Bacon, Kwest, Kane and Rath.

below: In the same parking lot as Machu Picchu but on the other side, is a very large mural centered around an image of the Taj Mahal. Painted by Sight, Hone, Water, Equal and Tenser.

below: Commissioned in 1632 by the Mogul Emperor, Shah Jahan, the Taj Mahal was built as a mausoleum for his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal. She was born Arjumand Banu Begum, a daughter of Persian nobility in Agra India. In 1613, when she was 19, she married Prince Khurram (later he became Shah Jahan) as his 3rd or 4th wife. She died in June of 1631 while giving birth to their 14th child. If my math is correct, that’s 14 children in 18 years. After the Shah died in 1666, he was buried here too. Anyhow, many centuries later, the Taj Mahal is still standing in Agra India and it is visited by millions every year.

below: Teeny tiny people dwarfed by the doors of Petra, Jordan. Petra is an ancient city with immense buildings cut out of the sandstone cliffs and hills. It was once a thriving trading center and the capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106 when it was called Raqmu. The Nabateans were a nomadic Arab tribe. Their empire came to an end when they were conquered by the Romans and their land annexed into the Roman Empire.

below: The whole Petra mural on the walls of an alley tucked in between the Ka Ka Lucky Seafood BBQ Restaurant and Paradise Spa on Broadview Avenue. This mural was painted by Hemps.

below: The Roman Coliseum (Rome) is now on the corner of Broadview and Gerrard. This is half of the mural and when the photo was taken it was incomplete. It is now finished – a second visit for a photo is in my future! The Coliseum (or Colosseum) is in Rome and it was built by 80 A.D, just before the Roman Empire swallowed up the Nabateans. It was built as an amphitheatre and could hold at least 50,000 spectators – people who came to watch gladiator fights, enactments of classical dramas, or other forms of entertainment.

below: The right hand side of the mural with the graffiti writing signature of the artist. If I could only easily photoshop out that garbage bin. Mural painted by Sewp, Poser and Frens.

below: Chichen Itza ruins in Yucatan Mexico and a jaguar on the side of the Sunshine Hair Studio, partially obscured by greenery. Painted by Cruz, Rons, Sadar and Rcade. Chichen Itza was the largest Mayan city covering about 5 square km. It flourished between 900 and 1050. The mural depicts El Castillo, or the Temple of Kukulcan, the building at the center of Chichen Itza that dominates the site.

And that concludes the seven new murals – Christ the Redeemer statue, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Taj Mahal, Petra, the Roman Coliseum, and Chichen Itza.

This mural project follows the success of last year’s Project Picasso in the same area. Graffiti from some of the lanes was cleaned up and a Chinese themed mural was painted on the brick wall at the back of the parking lot on Gerrard Street East, just west of Broadview Avenue. Riverdale Collegiate students helped with the graffiti clean up and contributed ideas for the mural.

below: Chinatown East mural by ACK crew, bacon, wunder, tensoe 2, and cruz1

below: Chinese icons painted in the mural – a resting tiger, cherry blossoms, red Chinese lanterns floating by, a lucky cat with its paws up, and a panda munching on a piece of bamboo.

below: A red dragon beside some Chinese characters. Does anyone know what it says?

love letters in paint

Posted: July 11, 2016 in events, graffiti and street art
Tags: alley, birdo, boat, Cara To, caratoes, Cinzah, DOn River, En Masse, environment, lake, lebonar, love letters to the Great Lakes, mrcinzah, murals, Olivier Bonnard, Ossington, pangeaseed, peru, peru143, public art, Queen West, seawalls, sens, sermob, ship, street art, water

From June 20th to 25th, many street artists brought their talents to paint murals with the Great Lakes as their theme. It was part of Pangeaseed Foundation’s Seawalls for Oceans. Pangeaseed’s mission is to use science, art and creativity to “inspire positive change around pressing ocean environmental issues”. This campaign originally focused on oceans but they have now branched out to increase awareness of the issues involving out fresh water lakes and rivers as well. One of their methods is to support and encourage the painting of murals – Seawalls have been painted in Miami, San Diego, Napier New Zealand, Cozumel Mexico and many other cities around the world… and now in Toronto too.

One of the locations chosen for the murals was around Ossington and Queen where they join a number of murals that were already there.

below: The S.S. One Love sails high above an alley, painted by Peru143

below: Painted in mostly shades of grey, a mural by Caratoes (aka Cara To), a street artist based in Hong Kong.

below: A large water bird swims along the surface and watches the people passing by.
Painted by Jon Todd.

As you can see from the above photo, there are three round images painted on the south wall of the old Self Storage building.

below: Closest to the street, a mural by Sermob

below: In the middle and tying the three circles together is a mural of entwined fish by Miguel Valinas from Mexico.

below: A sleepy baby otter in its parents’ arms, painted by Sens, also from Mexico

below: A mural on a bright yellow wall – a shark and a dinosaur amongst geometric shapes that are characteristic of birdo’s work. There is also another animal head beside it. This was a collaboration between birdo, tens2, fuel, kostyn, phil and barney and it pre-dates the Love Letters to the Great Lakes murals.

below: From bright colours, to black and white – birdo’s collaboration with En Masse. A mural with the words “RIP Don Valley River”

below: It’s a rather dark lament about the state of the Don River.

below: Standing on an island, ‘Hello’ by Chicago-born Hebru Brantley in 2015

below: Whales, lobsters, fish and other creatures swimming amongst the seaweed, painted by street artist lebonar (aka Olivier Bonnard)

below: More marine life, but in an unfortunate spot. I’ve been to see this mural twice, and both times the fence was locked. It looks like the fish has an arm that it’s using to reach for the unsuspecting crayfish – a metaphor for invasive species and their effects on marine life and their habitats. It was painted by Cinzah Seekayem from New Zealand. You can see better pictures of it on his instagram page.

seawalls and serpents

Posted: July 11, 2016 in graffiti and street art
Tags: birdo, boat, Bruno Smoky, cage, clandestinos, colours, containers, environment, fish, fishing, Great Lakes, hook, marine, mural, Ossington, pollution, Queen West, Rebecca St., seawalls, serpent, swimming, swiss army knife, turquoise, water

This blog post is a continuation of the ‘love letters in paint’ post. I decided to give two of the larger murals a separate post.

First, there is an awesome mural painted by Bruno Smoky and Clandestinos that stretches across the back of a building on Rebecca Street (one block north of Queen St. West). It too is part of the Love Letters to the Great Lakes project.

And second, in an alley just east of Ossington, is a mural painted on bright turquoise that is hard to miss! Actually it is a series of murals that covers the back of more than one building. It is another birdo collaboration, this time with Christopher Konecki.

#seawallsTO | #loveletterprojects | #pangeaseed

hoardings engineered

Posted: July 6, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: artwall, astronaut, computer, DNA, engineers, hoardings, Jason Wing, lightbulb, mural, Nanoleaf, painted, power, robot cat, science, University of Toronto, water, windmill

Construction hoardings around the site of the new new Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CEIE) at the University of Toronto have been painted with a wonderful mural. Back in the spring I took some photos of it.

This artwall installation is a collaboration between U of T Engineering and graffiti artist Jason Wing (SKAM). The mural features many things that engineers do, from the things that are unique to U of T Engineering to those that apply to engineers around the world.

below: Batteries, circuit boards, robots and DNA. The robot cat is Tangy, a bingo playing robot and one of the many assistive robots developed at U of T.

below: Astronats in space and the Lady Godiva Memorial Band. The band is part of the engineering school and it will be getting a new music room to practice in as part of the new building. That symbol that looks like NY but isn’t – that’s pronounced ‘en sci’ and is the abbreviation for U of T’s Engineering Science program.

below: The Nanoleaf bulb, one of the world’s most energy efficient bulbs is shown along with wind turbines and solar cells. Wind and solar energy are two of the many research interests of the CEIE.

below: The Ye Olde Mighty Skule Cannon is the official mascot of U of T Engineering. The equation coming out of the cannon is the formula used to calculate power. Also in this part of the mural is a river and a faucet to represent the Institute for Water Innovation which is part of the CEIE.

below: A TTC streetcar and a traffic light are in the artwall to represent the fact that U of T engineers partner with cities worldwide to improve transportation infrastructure.

summer in the city, June edition

Posted: June 15, 2016 in people
Tags: boarders, boy, cars, cat, fountains, hitching a ride, nathan phillips square, outdoors, outside, patio, people, skateboards, summer, sunny, water, woman, Yonge Dundas Square

Summer in the city – enjoying the summer weather!

below: Toronto street art in Graffiti Alley.

below: skateboarders

below: Enjoying a quiet moment, late afternoon.

below: Painting shingles – June 4th was 100 in One Day, a day where community activites are promoted. One of the activities on Kenwood Lane was shingle painting.

below: Running through the fountains at Yonge Dundas Square

below: World Naked Bike Ride participants cycle through Kensington.

below: Relaxing at Nathan Phillips Square. #sitTO is a campaign to increase the number of places to sit in public spaces.

below: Distillery District

below: Patio, College Street

get outdoors!

Posted: May 23, 2016 in abstract, nature, waterfront
Tags: blossoms, creek, fence, flowers, Lake Ontario, leaves, maple, metal, moss, new, pebbles, petals, pink, reflections, shadow, shadows, shovel, spring, tree, water, yellow

Well, this May 2 4 weekend has been splendidly sunny and fabulously warm! I hope you’ve had the chance to take advantage of it, whether sitting on a patio with a cold drink and friends, or out enjoying the the greenness that has bloomed all around us. It’s been a great few days to get up close and take a good look at nature.