Thanks Obay!

2008-02-18T20:02:00.001-08:00

I found these advertisements, to my great surprise, in a bus shelter at Dundas and Spadina last week.

They read:

"My son used to have his own hopes and aspirations. Now he has mine. Thanks Obay! From the makers of WhyBecauseISaidSo."

and

"When Amy started thinking for herself, we had to nip it in the bud with Obay."

I simply could not believe my eyes. These were not culture jammed, they were paid for ads, under the plexiglass that have been up for at least a week now. They're well designed as well. Though isn't Obay actually spelled Obey? If anyone knows who is behind this then please speak up!

2008-02-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night I met with a few friends on a corner of Queen Street East to engage in a little bit of snow filled public space mischief. The objective was simple, let's build an igloo out of a TTC shelter and decorate it. The process itself was fun, albeit wet and cold, and I was glad I participated, frivolous as it may seem. A lot of passerby were curious about what we were doing and, more importantly, why.

Strangely enough, I do consider this kind of action to be a form of activism. Every day our modern culture bombards us with advertising, mass media and mass communications and we have become so accustomed to disconnecting from what is going on around us, thereby living our lives as passive spectators. Engaging in fun acts of creative resistance such as this enables us to take an active role in our urban landscape, taking ownership of our public spaces and forming a connection to our surroundings. Public art can be used to beautify or recreate spaces that feel soulless or without character. According to Adbusters,

"Public art says the spirit is alive here."

Keri Smith, author of The Guerilla Art Kit writes:

"As a street art enthusiast, I find myself searchiing for examples of artists leaving their marks in anonymous and subtle ways. I get excited knowing that the artists and I share a little secret. For a moment, I am taken out of my known world and presented with an alternative, one that is unexpected and daring, one that makes me think about the space a little differently. These little gestures encourage me to not take the world so seriously, to contemplate for a moment something outside the predictable. They reawaken a sense of connection to the environment by pointing out something I might not have seen, by adding a new image to the world that is unexpected, or by presenting an alternate point of view."

Throughout the evening we had various visitors, ranging from the Toronto Police to a few reporters. Towards the end of the project a TTC authority truck pulled up and threatened legal action against us. I find this really interesting and this could very well epitomize the reason why I decided to participate in such an action. Why is it okay for large corporations to pay the city for ad space and yet, we pay our taxes, not to mention the exorbitant TTC fares, and yet, it is not okay for us to build a snow fort, something that will melt of its own accord, on the very same space that is plastered by ads? Where are people's values? For me it really comes down to that core struggle, that of the tension between homogeneity and diversity, corporate power which oftentimes feeds the homogeneity, versus the creative ingenuity and individuality of communities whose time has come to fight back.

Protection of diversity and the creativity of the dynamic human spirit - this is where I stand. This is why I will continue to participate in actions such as this. If you're interested in seeing more photos from the fun we had, including photos of Fort Leslie the next day, you can view them here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=7657121718

the art of resistance

Thanks Obay!