Arts
No Love For Poster Child?
Image courtesy of Poster Child
Renegade street artist Poster Child has been doing installations on the subway vents in front of Nathan Phillips Square in the last few weeks. For his third piece he created a big inflated doll and invited the folks at Dear Toronto to film the event. Let's just say that not everyone was feeling it:
Video courtesy of Dear Toronto
Poster Child also asks in his blog if the doll was "a security risk" big enough for such a speedy takedown. His last two installations lasted more than 24 hours in public view. The guards at Nathan Phillips are catching on quicker. What did you think of it? And will we expect more art on the grates from Poster Child after this one?
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Sorry hipsters. Thems the breaks.
I don't get this whole hipster inside joke thing, but the guards were right to take this down. What in the blue fuck was that suppose to be?
That wasn't fun. That was stupid. Bring back the light graffiti. Now that was good.
Those animal plastic bag things were smaller, lighter, and attached to the grate. This was basically a large windsock and a wooden frame just waiting for a chance to smash through some schmuck's windshield.
It wasn't a security risk, wasn't going to fall over (all the weight was at the base), wasn't in anyone's way, and didn't interfere with the function of the grate.
Meh - the animal guy (Joshua Allen Harris) isn't the first to use vents to inflate things and call it art.
Outraged! This is why Toronto is such a not-new-york city, it's because not everyone thinks I'm a genius!
I'm taking my wooly scarf and my wacky inflatable arm man elsewhere.
You Douches!
Anyways, the vents are back to their usual dull, uncovered selves today. Enjoy the view!
oh please forgive the charlatan artist for interrupting your enjoyment of the Kelly Clarkson remix on your iPod as you schlep to your part-time gig as the assistant fry guy at McDonald's.
I'm sure Poster Child has been properly admonished and can now squash his hopes of becoming a bigger artist than that white dude with the 'fro who painted landscapes on PBS.
T-Dot's getting more bland by the day.
you know what happens when you leave everything pent up Dave? you become a sallow, bitter, Boo Radley-complexioned type who can only find satisfaction by shitting on everything in random public forums...like on a blog for example.
if you consider him a visionary for anything other than his infamy as a pop culture footnote than I'd love to trade my etchings for your velvet Elvis paintings.
No, security was right to take it away because when it comes down to it somebody dumped some crap on their property, essentially defacing it. Surely you'd not suggest that property owners have no right to paint over graffiti left on their buildings?
Even if you think it is "art", Poster Child doesn't really have the slightest right to put it there.
Some guy left a inflatable arm guy on a grate. Security whose job it is to look after the square walked over, had a look and threw it away.
Why is this worth posting? No one got hurt, or in fact no one even got yelled at. The "art" wasn't all that interesting or very good (subjective I know, but this won't go down in Toronto's art history).
BlogTO, I'd rather have 2-3 quality post's a day then lot's of crap. This is turning into a local TV newscast. Fill up space regardless of whether it's worth doing a story on it.
@Ian: I'm pretty sure Poster Child knows that he doesn't have the right to put it there and even acknowledges in his post on his site that he realises that they were just doing their jobs.
@Everyone saying that the security guards are why Toronto is going down the gutter: Get over yourselves, there will be plenty more street art and Poster Child isn't going to close up shop because something of his got taken down.
@Everyone saying that this is stupid and are glad it was taken down: Sure they had the right to take it down, but someone standing there waiving their arms probably posed more risk than this.
WACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MEN EMPORIUM AND WAREHOUSE. Yeah, whatever.
I like Bob Ross.
http://www.bladediary.com/bobross.jpg
We might all learn something from his chilled-out attitude.
It's not that Toronto hates fun, it just likes it's fun highly regulated and structured.
peace, order and good government, bitches!
Sponsored by a bank, limited to one night only, highly regulated and structured, AND with a half-hour line up!
<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=L-a607j2dOo";>http://youtube.com/watch?v=L-a607j2dOo<;/a>
<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ir0U3VNYg_w";>http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ir0U3VNYg_w<;/a>
This version lacked imagination and sincerity, I thought.
The pattern is not so nice and too busy to make a statement.
It didn't say 'toronto'.
Joshua Allen Harris' sculptures had 'New York' written all over them - their subway grates were ubiquitious and the sculptures hid in plain sight - it just looked like garbage until the passing subway car 'activated' them.
Pure simple ingenuity.
Sorry PosterChild.