OTHER CITIES: VANCOUVER MONTREAL

Watermelon on the tracks?

Posted by Jenny
Filed in Arts
December 30, 2005

watermelon ttc.jpg
How would you feel riding a watermelon to work?

First reaction would be: "Yeah, that's pretty cool."
Well, now you might get the chance to imagine that possibility.

The Toronto Public Space Committee will put on a show at XPACE from Jan. 5 to 8 exhibiting 200 ideas how the TTC can rid the ads on its property and turn them into moving pieces of art.

Public school kids submitted most of the entries along with independent artists in the city. Dave Meslin of the Toronto Public Space Committee said that some ideas from the kids were abstract where "things were growing from the sides and top of the bus" but are still really interesting. Others have various patterns of fruit on streetcars, buses and subway trains.

"It's hard to get people to imagine the city changing in a significant way," he says. "So if you grow up in a transit system surrounded by ads, you grow to assume that's natural. This is to show by example, an alternative transit system that can get people to realize how different the TTC could look."

XPACE is located at 303 Augusta Ave., just south of College. For more info. call (416)654-8772 or (416)849-2864 or e-mail betterway@publicspace.ca.

[Photo courtesy of Toronto Public Space Committee]

Reader Reviews and Comments

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While I like the idea in principle, it occurs to we could combine the two - art and ad, that is.

Looking at the image above I thought, what a way to advertise healthy - and yummy - eating without the stupid slogans. Something that I'm sure Foodland Ontario would be game for.

I look forward to seeing what the children came up with...

Posted by: Kristine at December 30, 2005 3:12 PM

If the TTC were to rid itself of ads, what would replace that revenue? Increase in fares? No thanks.

Posted by: Ivan at December 31, 2005 2:32 PM

Apparently, Meslin says that ads only account for 4 cents per ride of the revenue. So he says people would most likely rather pay 4 cents more a ride than be bombarded by ads. Moscoe on the other hand says the Viacom ad deal the TTC has is worth $14 million.

Who knows where these numbers meet?

Posted by: Jenny at December 31, 2005 3:20 PM

The amount of ad revenue that the TTC generates would mean a 2 cent fare hike. But, by turning the TTC into a defacto gallery, you could possibly make up that 2 cents a ride with new riders and tourism.

Posted by: matt at December 31, 2005 3:22 PM