Is there a way
to see your daily commute with new eyes? Sometimes it takes an
artist to remind us how to find the unusual in the ordinary. For the
second time in a month, there’s an exhibition that explores how we
travel through our city. Whether its moving underground in subway
stations we’ve seen hundreds of times, or looking out the window of
a streetcar -- a gentle nudge can allow us to see what we never
noticed before.
The magazine
Spacing is sponsoring “In Transit” -- no relation to this column --
an art show featuring Toronto photographers, painters and video
artists. Already this month, the Toronto Public Space Committee
presented "What the TTC Could Be", hoping to spark discussion about
the number of advertisements in and on TTC vehicles and stations.
Spacing is an
offshoot of the committee, and is dedicated to exploring the
metropolis through ideas, imagination and artistic expression.
Almost 50,000 subway buttons have been sold through the website
www.spacing.ca and local stores,
and the magazine’s next issue will be about transit in Toronto.
The art show --
on until February 28 at the Toronto Free Gallery -- looks for the
remarkable in the common spaces we travel in, and the people we
share the ride with. Paintings of riders look at us right in the
eyes, while photos reveal the quirks of people we might see every
day. Also seek out the short videos -- one on each floor.
A photograph
might make you see a snowy bus shelter as beautiful, and a painting
can turn a modern streetcar into a magical apparition. Back when the
graceful, curved PCC streetcars traversed our city, artists and
T-shirt designers made the PCC an icon of Toronto. Somehow the newer
cars did not inspire us the same way -- perhaps that can change now
that they are 25 years old.
Here’s a
riddle: At what single stop can you catch a downtown-bound 501, 502,
503 or 504 streetcar? Find the answer in front of the Toronto Free
Gallery at 660 Queen St. East, just west of Broadview. Visit
www.spacing.ca [
http://spacing.ca/intransit/
] for details on the show.
If you are
feeling inspired about Toronto’s future, a book has appeared that
imagines what our home could be like in 10 or even 100 years. A
collection of works called uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto was
recently published by Coach House Books.
The town once
called Muddy York is now a young city, certainly a teenager compared
to Paris or London or Jerusalem. Decisions we make today will affect
the people who may live here centuries from now.
The books
suggests now is a good time to examine our priorities -- not just in
the context of the next municipal election, but how we will leave
the city to the next set of Torontonians.
Included in the
book is a fun, -- and thoughtful -- transit map by Andrew
Alfred-Duggan. He imagines what Toronto would be like with express
subway routes, new islands offshore and even canals. I find the map
alone worth the price of the entire book.