Toronto’s Largest Hashtag #BEACHTO

Early in the day, I biked to the Eastern Beaches of Toronto to see what remained of the giant Clover Leaf Triskelion Labyrinth I had made for St Patrick’s Day back in March.

The Labyrinth’s broad outline could be recognized if you looked carefully enough and knew what was there before. To an unfamiliar eye, its design could be missed entirely.

What was instantly recognizable however were giant letters spelling B E A C H.

Someone or someones else had harvested enough Labyrinth stones to re-purpose them.

Very nice!

As often happens upon returning to former Outstallations, inspiration strikes and it’s hard not to decide to renew or regenerate the earlier giant work of art . . .

(Re)building the giant Stone #BeachTO Labyrinth in-between Woodbine + Kew Beach tonight. Pop by after 7 pm. Say Hi http://t.co/v7e7YoE1
@HiMYSYeD
HiMY SYeD

Returning to The Beach in the early evening, I began measuring and planning the design of the new BeachTO Labyrinth . . .

#BeachTO Labyrinth (Re)Building in progress; between Kew & Woodbine Beaches; here til sunset; Cooler by The Lake! http://t.co/pdgg1eHE
@HiMYSYeD
HiMY SYeD

Then a funny thing happened . . .

The more walking I did while lifting stones and placing them down into the new Labyrinth configuration, I kept re-reading the giant letters spelling B E A C H.

Thinking how funny it might be if I added a # in front of it and a T O at the end of it, it only took a few moments to outline the three additional characters in the sand, and just like that:

' #BeachTO ' ...Toronto's biggest hashtag currently being set in stone...
@HiMYSYeD
HiMY SYeD
Giant #Outstallation Art in-between Woodbine Beach & Kew Beach tonight: " #BEACHTO " Giant Stone Letters. #beachTO http://t.co/ag4RgdKe
@HiMYSYeD
HiMY SYeD

So much for re-building the beachTO Labyrinth.

In its place we now have. . .

Toronto’s Largest Hashtag: #BEACHTO !

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“NuWe” Blanche 2011

NuWe Blanche. 2011.

My independent mobile nuit blanche giant outstallation art returned for a third year.

This year though, in a nod to expected cuts to City Hall arts funding by the Ford Regime, I cut back the amount of Giant Letters used to four, down from eleven.

Biking and wandering the different zones all night with only four of my giant N U W E letters turned out to be quite manageable. Without volunteers this year, handling all eleven giant  N U W E   B L A N C H E letters and co-ordinating a dozen or so people for each photo myself would have been quite challenging.

First stop was atop Queen’s Park North. The triangle traffic island had become an impromptu stage for Asian improv troupe, Asiansploitation.

I met them earlier in the day doing a sneak peek performance in Christie Pits Park. They entertained the crowd with a sketch based on my suggestion of Performing the Job of Mayor of Toronto.  A hilarious on-the-spot display that ended with the elimination of bike lanes… which in fact, is happening right now along Pharmacy Avenue in Scarborough. They have a show coming up on November 11-12 (George Ignatieff Theatre) and I hope people can make it out. I’m intending to see them again.

Four members of Asiansploitation and one member from the audience answered my request to hold up N U W E. And with that first photo captured “NuWe”  Blanche 2011 was off and running.

The second stop for the night… sucked. Unlike 2010 when this turned out to be one of the best NuWe Blanche stops, there was not much going on in front of The Royal Ontario Museum tonight. Unofficially, it became a random salsa spot, with boom box volumes of Latin dance music echoing and strangers becoming one-off dance floor partners.

However, The ROM was devoid of that nuit blanche energy. The rush of people rushing to and from art installations elsewhere interrupted numerous attempts to engage people with NuWe.

Four young college aged ladies finally stepped up for this one photo. With that captured, I headed back south.
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G20 INQUIRY – Interview with HiMY SYeD The Peoples’ Mayor of Toronto

Civil Liberties Now! downtown march on July 10th 2010 speaking with HiMY SYeD, candidate for Mayor of Toronto 2010, about his letters G20 INQUIRY…
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“Showing some hometown pride in Kensington” — blogTO

RT @: Showing some hometown pride in Kensington http://twitpic.com/1sjzeb
@nboo
Talia Boo
RT @: Showing some hometown pride in Kensington http://twitpic.com/1sjzeb
@mari_itza
maritza ɐzʇıɹɐɯ
RT @: Showing some hometown pride in Kensington http://twitpic.com/1sjzeb - that's sick
@nathanbarato
Nathan Barato
My second hometown =D , big up Tdot RT@blogTO Showing some hometown pride in Kensington http://twitpic.com/1sjzeb
@nicklow
Nick Low
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T T C cuts

T T C Transfers printing weird, so I made some art at Bathurst Station.

T T C Transfers printing weird, so I made some art at Bathurst Station.

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“Once upon a time, there were ‘The Gates’ in Central Park.”

Jeanne-Claude passed away today . . .

Upon hearing of her death, I quickly created this Gallery on Flickr. It is of The Gates.

She said at the time, in the future people will say,

“Once upon a time, there were ‘The Gates’ in Central Park . . . ”

“Once upon a time, there were gates in Central Park.

For two weeks in late February, 2005, the exhibition “The Gates Central Park, New York 1979-2005,” produced by the husband and wife team of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, graced 23 miles of Central Park’s walkways.

Then the gates were dismantled, with all of their components slated for recycling. The final one of the 7,500 gates was disassembled on Friday, March 11, 2005.

The park then reverted to the way it had been before, with no physical evidence of the orange intruders.

While the lifespan of the Gates was brief, they endure in the memories of the millions who visited them, and in the innumerable photographs and videos that captured them.”

- Harvey Silikovitz

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“BiG” on Bloor Festival — Bloordale, Bloorcourt

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Kurt Perschke’s RedBall Project meets T. — Luminato Festival of Arts

Kurt Perschke‘s RedBall Project meets T. in Queen Street West Alley for Luminato 2009.
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Alchemy Art Jam — I LIKE YOU VERYVERYMUCH

A fun evening with Neighbourhood Art in The Storefront Community.

My ArtJam turned E-Waste into an E-Message by rearranging keys on the MacBook to spell . . .

I LIKE  YOU VERYVERYMUCH

Steve Jobs should be veryvery pleased.


Alchemy Art Jam
Jam #1: Electronic Madness
The more Gizmos, the merrier.

Join us as we turn garbage into gold. We provide the tools, you provide your hands and brain and heart and whatever junk you’ve got and we’ll get wildly creative together. No experience necessary.

Organized by Leah Gold and Kira Kastner and hosted in The Storefront Community run by Ghazaleh Etezal.

Donations of trash or cash welcome. Never throw anything away. Make art instead.

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Barnes Dance Scramble Intersection — Pedestrian Sunday Kensington Market

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