Watch our Geomapping
Toronto, Queen Street West- The Hidden Gems video by
clicking here.
What's the first thing
that comes to mind when you think Toronto? Most likely capital city of Ontario,
and one of the busiest cities in the world. Toronto is also the home of
thousands of artists, undiscovered and unknown to the general public. For our
geomapping project we decided to forgo the usual Kensington Market and Royal
Ontario Museum idea, for a deeper, darker journey. Instead, our adventure will
take you into the hottest spots for graffiti in the downtown area, found on
Queen Street West.
Starting beside the comic
book store called The Silver Snail, we travelled in back alleyways and enclosed
streets that should never be followed after dark. The reason we chose the
undiscovered channels? Simply because Toronto isn't all about what you see on
the surface. Sure, tourists come downtown to shop in tiny boutiques and gape at
gorgeous artwork in the Art Gallery of Ontario, but there is so much more
to downtown. We put together all of the pictures we used within a slide show
sort of film, with pictures and a script found within. The script was minimal
because we decided that by geomapping art, it is better to let the pictures do
the talking. We structured the actual script around an informal tour, with
occasional comments about the art, and how we feel about Toronto
graffiti.
The script is as follows:
"Some people come to Toronto for the shopping, or the sights, or the
culture.
But what
people don't see are the treasures of Toronto, the hidden gems not found on the
streets.
This journey
will show you what people are missing, and what some people are trying to
ignore.
We start our
adventure on the west side of Queen Street, downtown Toronto. Painted on the
brick wall of a comic book store called The Silver Snail, we find what we're
looking for...
This may not
seem like the regular graffiti you're used to, but it is.
Graffiti is
the term used for images, letters or words painted or written on a piece of
property.
Mostly found
on the sides of buildings...And graffiti is a huge part of Toronto life. Being
the adventurous people we know you are, let's travel behind The Silver Snail,
to a different kind of treasure trove.
Colours and
shapes cover almost every inch of this back ally, located across the street
from Little Nicky's Coffee Shoppe.
Finding our
way back to the populated stores, we can see more graffiti on the Queen West
and Spadina intersection.
And on the
next street over, even more...
Pretty cool,
isn't it? That's just the beginning though. Graffiti, whether commissioned or
not, is covering the walls of downtown Toronto.
If you're
still brave enough, next we're going to take you behind the scenes of The City
Dance Corps and the YMCA ally, to a hidden world of street art...
Simply
amazing. What's even more amazing is that this four section ally is covered from
head to toe, and the artists are all completely unknown.
Mystery seems
to be a staple in the world of graffiti. One activist artist named Banksy, who
hails across the pond from Britain, is infamous because his identity is a
literal mystery. His works can be found all over the world, making him and
his graffiti famous. Oh, and a recent novel that can be purchased in Urban
Outfitters and Chapters doesn't hurt his fam either.
Next, if
you'll just wander across the street to a parking lot located behind Taco Bell
and the old shoe store titled "Da' Zone" are more fantastic examples
of graffiti.
Those jail
birds are cute, don't you think? Graffiti artists have a great sense of humor.
Now, if you'll just come over to the next street, we have a great example of
graffiti paid for by the city.
Gorgeous work,
really. Let's cross the street once more for our final stop of the day.
Nestled
between the Oh Boy! Burger Market and The Rock Parlour, take a look at these
amazing murals.
These seven
stops are not the only places you can find great graffiti in Toronto. Try Yonge
Street, for example.
Unfortunately,
not everyone thinks that what you've seen today is art. Some people think
graffiti is vandalism, which it can be.
What is
important to remember though is that Toronto is famous for being a city full of
colour and culture, full of life. I'd like to take this time to thank all of
you for coming on this tour today because...
You never know
when we'll be forced to say goodbye to these gorgeous acts of graffiti...”
As a group, we travelled
downtown via the subway to literally find this beautiful type of artwork.
Getting off on Queen West, we immediately began prowling the streets for
graffiti. After walking for some time looking at shop fronts, we realized we
wouldn't be able to find what we were looking for on the beaten path. It was
Sam who discovered our first stop. After taking a few pictures of the
commissioned art of The Silver Snail, Sam stumbled upon the back alley across
from Little Nicky's Coffee Shoppe. Here, amongst the tossed garbage cans and
broken boards, we found hundreds of art pieces that were clearly done without
permission. We took more pictures than was necessary, but found that after
coming across this alley, it was easy to locate more graffiti behind the store fronts
of Queen Street West. Together, we slunk through the alleys, feeling slightly
rebellious just for being there. By the end of our journey, we knew that there
was so much more to Toronto than what was seen in the day time.
After gathering all of our
information, we learned that graffiti, while still frowned upon, is an enormous
part of Toronto culture. Graffiti is seen as the art of common people, the way
the children of the streets express themselves. We also learned that it is more
accepted than we realized, and it is even commissioned by the city and some
store owners. Document Print and Copy has a graffiti mural outside of it's
store specifically to draw attention, and to show how involved they are in
Toronto life. We learned that more than not, people like to look at graffiti,
and find that it brings a certain life to the bland brick walls of down town.
Our intention for this project was to highlight the areas that not all tourists
get to see when they come to Toronto. We wanted to explain how although we are
known for being nice, caring people, the Toronto night life introduces
important aspects of urban culture. We intended to produce something that
people could look at and be intrigued by, and want to pursue themselves.
Also, when we were heading
back to the subway, we walked passed one of the new city cars emblazoned with
"Goodbye Graffiti" on the side of it. Firstly, we laughed. Secondly,
we were annoyed. If only the people behind that project would take the time to
look around, and see how amazingly beautiful the graffiti in Toronto is. Also,
we wanted to point out to them that graffiti is anything painted or written on
a piece of property, and the fact that they printed those words on the side of
that car could be considered exactly what they were trying to get rid of.
Conclusively, we would
like people to understand that graffiti, when done beautifully, helps bring a
city to life, instead of brining it down.