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Arts

Art of Bugs of Toronto

Posted by Jerrold Litwinenko / February 1, 2009

20090201-artbugcar01.jpgAn armadillo rides a rhino at the sergeant's command, while Santa hangs out with a Tyrannosaurus Rex that looks tiny next to the giant grasshopper that sits on a flower. And spiders, beetles, and flies are everywhere.

While it sounds like it could be a scene from a wild B-movie, this is actually the scene on the elaborately decorated roof of the "Art of Bugs of Toronto" van. And I fully admit that I have no clue what any of it means.

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I've seen this truly bizarrely decorated Plymouth Voyageur a couple times in passing through the Davenport neighbourhood, but until today I'd never crossed paths with it while toting my camera. My curiosity is now particularly piqued after returning home and not getting very far with Google (other than a few more photos).

Is it a traveling art exhibit? A creative, mobile ad for a toy store? Or simply an... err.. unconventional hobby?



Want to view them larger? See the full-screen slideshow.

Discussion

9 Comments

Danielle / February 1, 2009 at 04:22 pm
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As far as I know (and I may be wrong) this is van of a man who is just really fond of gluing things to his van and house. When it was explained to me by a relative, there didn't seem to be any reason or grand statement involved, he just "started doing it". While I don't want to post exactly where the house is, if you wander around north of Bloor around Christie you'll stumble upon it eventually. If anyone has better knowledge please feel free to contradict me.
Krupo / February 1, 2009 at 05:04 pm
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I've seen a similar thing done with plastic dolls
jack / February 1, 2009 at 05:21 pm
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wow.. the cupidescorts big box ad is soooo...since when does blogto become a site that carries sex ad? lol.. Tim, what's going on?
Gary / February 1, 2009 at 07:02 pm
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I think I saw this vehicle (or at least one very similar) stopped near Harbourfront last summer. He definitely attracts a crowd. I could be wrong, but I think there's some sort of bylaw that makes it illegal to decorate your vehicle in this way. I remember reading about a women a few years ago who had larger dolls glued all over her car and was constantly ticketed for being a distraction or something like that...
eagle3 / February 1, 2009 at 07:06 pm
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I live in the area of Davenport and this guy has been around for years. He is well known to many of us in the area.
His van is nothing compared to his house! The front of his house is covered in that stuff, every square inch of it! It is unbelievable!
JonO / February 1, 2009 at 07:24 pm
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The guy lives on Clinton just north of Bloor a few blocks. Take a walk. You can't miss his house.
ding dong / February 1, 2009 at 11:15 pm
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an article about the house:
http://www.geocities.com/bettysmart/fairytale.html
ChrisToronto / February 2, 2009 at 05:43 am
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Here's another link to coverage of Carreira's crazy house: http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2008/12/folly-casa-carreira/

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