Arts
The signifier plays the signified at 52 McCaul's Creative Type II
Whether it's stitched into our sneakers, bombarding us via enormous billboards, or providing the elegant medium for our favourite author's new novel, type -- and the hard work done by typographers -- can be seen just about everywhere, particularly in urban environments. Despite its ubiquity, however, typography is an art form routinely taken for granted (or simply overlooked) in our day to day hustle. Arts
Snow Art Declares: Honesty is the Best Poetry
blogTO reader @casiestewart spotted this snow art poetry (or "snoetry"?) this morning, near the foot of Spadina. "The most beautiful thing to wake up to!" she Tweets. Now if only we could figure out who to thank for this cute morning surprise... is it the snoetry of @greg_a_elliott?View it larger.
Arts
The Art of Google Street View
Since the launch of Google's Street View, hoards of people have marveled at the intriguing, wacky and even beautiful scenes captured by the city-mapping camera. And yet, for the most part, continued interest in the feature seems confined to bouts of procrastination and/or the gathering of travel information (both local and otherwise). While there's little doubt that there are worse ways one could engage in both the former and latter, recently I've noticed another way that these virtual cities are being put to use. More and more artists are undertaking projects that rely heavily on Street View.
Not to be confused with the plethora of articles and websites devoted to sharing strange or humorous incidents captured by the now highly recognizable camera-car, these projects go beyond the comic and the bizarre in the hopes of shedding light on the world at large and the complicated role that Google's putatively benevolent information gathering plays in our understanding of it.
Arts
Stumbling Upon Love in The Annex
Out for a walk with my sweetie today, we stumbled upon what's left of this street art Valentine's Day message, painted on the road at the intersection of Lowther Avenue and Bedford Rd in The Annex.Click the image to see it larger.
Arts
I Slept With Adam Giambrone
I slept with Adam Giambrone.Well, I didn't really sleep with Adam Giambrone. But what if I did? That's the question on a lot of people's minds these days, after seeing buttons with this message worn on lapels of people around Toronto.
Since it was revealed that Giambrone had relationships with multiple partners, wearing this button might level the playing field, as it were. The buttons are the brainchild of Sonya Popovich, a production coordinator for a graphic design studio in Toronto.
"I had an outside designer do it, whom I paid for the design," says Popovich. "She gave me five options and I chose one. I had 500 made. They cost me $230 to produce. But I'm giving them away for free."
Arts
Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair Teases and Titillates
Valentine's Day gift ideas were plentiful at The Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair, which featured indie sex art, zines, toys, an erotic bake sale and other titillating tidbits at the Gladstone Hotel yesterday.I arrive the Gladstone around 4:30 p.m. and dozens of inventive vendors are crammed into small booth-like spots in the hallways, some sharing an entire room in the artist's space on the second floor, while music blares from a makeshift DJ booth. Strangers brush by each other to get a closer look at the varied wares on display.
