Category: Art

Alley Jaunt

garageThis weekend in Toronto Alley Jaunt is happening. It’s an event that looks at local art in local garages and a chance to go down laneways and alleys that you might normally ignore. Run by some local artists, the event wants to bring the community of Trinty Bellwoods and artists together.

“Follow the path of chalk drawings and flags to guide you to the participating garages and join the local community in turning these private spaces into public gatherings!”

Be sure to check the pictures from last year. (I can’t link to it because their site uses frames.)

Man Grows Furniture, Art From Living Trees

It’s called arborsculpture, and Richard Reames has been doing it for years. He plants trees in patterns, and uses bending and grafting techniques to form the saplings into benches, staircases, sculptures, and an assortment of other amazing living things.

I believe that if enough people put their minds to using living trees, we can learn to grow houses. I believe that if we put our minds to it, like going to the moon, there’s no reason we couldn’t all be living in houses where the walls and ceilings are composed of living tree material and there are leaves coming out of the roof. We could accomplish this in one generation. We’d build doorways and windows that the trees would grow around, and also plumbing and electrical conduits. The trees would just swallow all the pipes. We’re going to call this “arbortecture.”

You’ve just got to see the pictures in this article!

Musicians In New Orleans Build A Village

A 23-year-old saxophone player named Dan Oestreicher and other fellow residents of the Ninth Ward in New Orleans have come together with Habitat For Humanity to build a “Musicians Village”. The new housing program aims to provide affordable housing for victims of last years hurricaine as well as to bring together the musicians in the area. The concept was dreamed into frution with the help of Harry Connick Jr and sax player Branford Marsalis. The only catch is that they have to help build it! They must spend 350 hours pounding nails and cutting drywall, and the result will be a community based in commradere and good tunes!

A Spotlight on the ‘Loner Genius’


The British National Gallery has opened a new exhibition called ‘Rebels and Martyrs’ and it is taking a deeper look inside the mind of the tortured artist throughout history. From Van Gogh to Kurt Cobain, artists from every genre have struggled to carve out a creative niche for themselves while engaging in regular social behaviour. Many ended their careers by ending their lives. The pieces in the show explore the psychcology behind the artist mind and look into the history of the bohemian.

The shows co-curator Alexander Sturgis commented that “it is the fierce individuality of the artists that is the wellspring of art” and that the cause of struggle is also economic, being that the growing middle class replaced state and church as the main buyers of art “artists became much less secure. The poor, struggling artist was an economic reality.”

Other subjects touched on are the increase in science and more rational theories of enlightenment which led artists to seek out something more internal, intuitive and spiritual. By exploring the mind of the ‘rebel artist’ the show sheds light on a somewhat dismal subject and gives appreciation to those who have suffered in order to share a part of themselves through their creativity.