May 2012
8 posts
THE CN TOWER APPEARS IN ROOKIE
Toronto-based photographer Petra Collins’ latest photo shoot for ROOKIE (obsessed), I Know Where My Friends Are Now, is set against the city’s skyline. There are also some awesome shots taken inside of Canada’s own Dollarama. Way to represent, Petra.
Vanessa
QUEEN STREET IS DEAD
Read “this place sucks” written in the dust that’s settled on an empty storefront window in the lower level of an ugly condo development on Queen Street West. See our sticker on the left.
This past weekend, Caroline and I rolled out our first phase of our Queen Street West sticker campaign, which was sparked by the recent openings of both Loblaws and CB2 on Queen Street,...
FORTNIGHT AND HONEST ED'S
This spring, I caved and bought myself a (very expensive) Toronto-made Fortnight bra. It may seem like I’m revealing too much by writing about my underwear; but this bra is magical and I need to tell everyone about it. If I change the underlife of one woman, it’ll be worth the overexposure.
I didn’t want to make this purchase online, so I headed with resolve to Fortnight...
BALLET BOB
Ballet used to be a big part of my life. From four to seventeen, I danced two to three nights per week at the very least. I spent most of my dancing days at the Pia Bouman School of Creative Movement in Parkdale; but when I decided to get moving again, I switched it up and enrolled in a class at the National Ballet School on Jarvis Street.
My teacher, Robert McCollum, known affectionately...
NIGHT LIFE ENVY
I saw Modeselektor for the first time in Japan three years ago. My plane touched down in Osaka, a place completely foreign to me, and I commuted directly to a Radiohead concert. It was my first time seeing the band live, and so I was too distracted and impatient to give a shit about the opener, Modeselektor. My indifference was shaken as soon as the lights grew dim, the crowd began to cheer,...
MINNA GILLIGAN LOVE
With the next to nothing that’s currently in my chequing account, I’ve literally just opted to buy art instead of food; but what could feed me more than this collage wonder (above) by Melbourne based artist Minna Gilligan?! I mean, LOOK AT IT!!
I wrote a love letter to Minna this past week after having looked longingly at her collages online for months. Of course, when one writes...
GEM OF A WEEKEND
This past weekend was one of those wonderful Toronto weekends that is the stuff of blog dreams. I began Saturday morning early and ambitiously, with a jog. The grass was wet green, the dogs were out and the light was a dreamy golden blue. I boosted my endorphin high with a post-shower hit of caffeine from White Squirrel. I really think that heaven can’t be too far from sunning in Trinity...
ALL THAT GLITTERS
Brendan Geroge Ko, Blackhole II (2010-12) // Among the Fields of Crystal (2010-12)
Sandy Plotnikoff, Foils on Cinefoil (2011)
Carly Waito, Bornite (2009) // Bornite Coated Halcocite (2011)
Sam Mogelonsky and Bruno Billio, Mirrored Room With Shiny Spinning Things for Come Up To My Room (2012)
Vanessa
April 2012
10 posts
SWEET SURPRISES
Well aren’t these lil’ tear drops just the sweetest? The sprayed sentiments above are a perfect example of graffiti’s potential to surprise, delight and improve city life for everyone. I found them on my way to work, in an alleyway off McCaul street. They make me smile each time I pass them.
Caroline
THE WRITINGS ON THE WALL
I happen to like tags. In fact, I actually prefer to walk down a heavily tagged alleyway than I do a clean, sterile street. For me, graffiti is part of what living in a city is all about. It gives a city its pulse, and it’s integral to the unique character of a neighbourhood. Sure, some tags are offensive and stupid (few people like to find a big Fuck You written on their fence); but...
GOOD ARTISTS: BLOOD OF THE YOUNG // REILLY HODGSON...
Who are you? I’m Reilly Hodgson. I make pictures and I also publish books and other editions using other people’s pictures. // What is on your ipod/bookshelf? Trap music and hardcore. Zines and early 00’s screamo records. // Where do you seek inspiration? ”The wrong side of the tracks” // When did you start creating? I used to draw awful comic books and sonic the...
NEON IS HOT THIS SUMMER
In case you haven’t figured it out already, Vanessa and I are obsessed with neon. I think my infatuation for florescents probably has something to do with the fact that they were all the rage when I started to care about clothing and music circa ‘93. I blossomed into adolescence in the era of Bodyglove bathers, Jem & the Holograms, 90210, fanny packs, Skip-Its and...
WE'RE STUCK IN THE NINETIES
Tonight Caroline and I are hosting an ELECTRIC CIRCUS dance party; and so naturally we got to thinking about our golden age, the nineties. Nostalgia led us to our personal archives of nothing books and grade school agendas. Below are some memory lane highlights (!!)
Vanessa
WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AGAIN
Pictured here are two greeting cards that I’ve received recently: above is an e-valentine that Caroline crafted cleverly on Photoshop, which I love because it puts me right where I belong (next to Paul Newman); and below is an antique postcard that my friend Amanda gave me for my birthday in March. Amanda spotted this hand-coloured, embossed birthday beauty at the recent Toronto Postcard...
TWINSIES
A few weeks ago, I accompanied Caroline on her mission to Bateman’s Bicycle Company. She was considering buying a new bike; but I was only flirting with the idea myself, and I simply thought it would be fun to join her on a test ride around the neighbourhood. It was one of those balmy March days, after all. We left our bags with Robert (read: Mr. Bateman, the establishment’s super...
MAGAZINE DAZE
I know we don’t usually re-blog; but today was one of those days spent stuck between the pages of an expensive magazine, and I feel compelled to share my discoveries with the world. I picked up TANK on College Street this morning, not worrying that its cost was going to mean eating peanut butter as a meal substitute for the latter part of April. I was seduced by the spread sampled below,...
CROWNS OF LOVE
As my nearest and dearest know, I’m obsessed with Toronto (obviously), crowns (deep background), crafts (who isn’t?), florals (duh!) and Tavi Gevinson (goddess); so when Toronto-based Petra Collins posted her DIY Crown of Love project on ROOKIE this past winter, I mobilized. Caroline, Chloe, Isabel and myself spent a Saturday evening drinking hot-toddies, eating candy, listening to...
March 2012
10 posts
MORE NEON LOVE
Some photos from the opening of ELECTRIC CIRCUS: FOR THE LOVE OF NEON at the OCAD U Student Gallery. From top to bottom: The talented Brianna Lowe hanging out (very casually) next to her psychedelic, nineties inspired print, Some Call It Love (2012); another shot of Orest Tataryn’s wonderful Flowers (2012); Vivian Rosas and Kaley McKean looking lovely in front of Christine teBogt’s...
OREST TATARYN: NEON WIZARD
Caroline and I first saw Orest Tataryn’s neon work at MADE, a boutique on Dundas Street West that showcases the maker’s design objects. After working with Orest as part of Do Design, we dared to ask if he’d partner with us on a neon-themed exhibition project that we were working on for the OCAD U Student Gallery. Orest learned glass blowing and neon fabrication at OCA,...
This past couple of weeks has been all about zines! So naturally I’ve revisited my own slowly advancing, never-ending zine project, which began as an offshoot of The Sketchbook Project. Here’s the latest.
Vanessa
OCAD U ZINE FAIR
Honestly, working at the OCAD U Student Gallery may be the best job in the world. Not only do I spend every day with my bestest friend EVER, Ms. Vanessa Nicholas, but I am also meeting and working with some of this city’s finest, coolest, most artistic, kooky and talented artists and makers.
Vanessa and I spent March 1 at the 4th Annual OCAD U Zine Fair, selling copies of our...
MYSTERY FILM FROM ART MET
Speaking of mystery photos (see previous post), here’s a sample of what I found on a roll of undeveloped film that I purchased at Art Metropole in the summertime. Developing a stranger’s film is one part voyeurism and one part blind date as you are looking into another life whilst also wanting to love your new photographs. The strange thing is, these photos look like I could...
DO DESIGN 2012
Starting in the fall, Caroline and I worked in partnership with Shaun and Julie of MADE to coordinate the second annual Do Design, an alternative design showcase that places locally made furniture and objects in storefronts along Dundas Street West. The event took place in conjuction with IDS and Toronto’s design week at the end of January. Organizing over twenty five installations was a...
THE GOOD ARTIST: EUNICE LUK
Who are you? My name is Eunice Luk. I am an artist based in Toronto. I spend a lot of time binding artist books by hand for my small press enterprise, Fantasy Camp.
What is on your ipod/bookshelf? Lately I’ve been listening to episodes of Radiolab and long form by Lucky Dragons. I read Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami a while ago, and I’m really excited to start 1Q84. Also on...
On January 31, I was lucky enough to catch a lecture by mega-legend, Griselda Pollock. She spoke at OCAD University on the subject of Aesthetic Wit(h)nessing in Post-traumatic Cultures. I had no idea what was meant by Wit(h)nessing; but I went trusting Pollock and hoping for the best.
I arrived a few minutes late to find a busy auditorium, but not a full one. The low attendance was shocking to...
VINTAGE TORONTO
Recently, a link to the Vintage Toronto Facebook page appeared in my inbox. I could spend hours browsing through its albums of images, which are organized by era and theme. The few I’ve selected to share with you here are from the 1960s and 1970s. They show the Toronto skyline as it then was: there are few skyscrapers and the Royal York Hotel still holds its prominent place on the...
February 2012
6 posts
THE GOOD PARTY
Two weeks ago, we were partying with friends and friendly strangers at our favourite bar, The Avro in Queen Street East. The cupcake-laden, beer-doused evening was organized to launch THE GOOD BIKE PROJECT publication and film, and to bring together everyone who helped us realize that city-wide neon vision. The publication is a self published wrap-up designed by the talented Andy Callahan....
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
TORONTO PORTRAITS
For Christmas, my brother Blake and I made a little film for my Dad, who is working to develop The Toronto Project. Some time ago, he was asked to write a book on the history of Toronto. As he wrote it, he realized that any book written on the history of a city is outdated as soon as it’s published. It occurred to him that a website could be a more dynamic platform for recording the...
A DAY OF WINTER
I think we can all agree that we’ve had a rather strange winter this year. Unlike most, this winter has been more or less free from the usual drudgery that comes with ice and snow. There have been few early mornings spent shoveling and scratching ice off the windshield; few complaints of frost bitten finger tips and cold, wet toes. There have been scarcely any opportunities to dust off...
Caroline in mid-cannonball this past summer, somewhere in the Quebec countryside…
Vanessa
January 2012
4 posts
The Good Bike Project is going out with a bang! Come celebrate the launch of our related publication and film at The Avro on February 9! The Good Bike Project publication includes write-ups on all of our bikes and an essay on our experiences liasing between The City and the city. The publication was lovingly designed by Andy Callahan. The film will serve as a book-end to our experience last...
AN ESSAY
Heavy, wet flakes of snow were falling outside, and Dundas Street looked all shades of brown and grey. Adding to the scene was an abandoned, rusted Raleigh bicycle, which we were pondering from the dry and relatively warm front room at the OCAD U Student Gallery where we are the Program Coordinators. Together we started considering ways to use it as a pseudo sign-board for the Gallery in the...
FERREIRA PHOTOGRAPHY
Since September, Caroline and I have been working to coordinate Do Design 2012, a design week event that turns storefronts on Dundas Street West (between Bathurst Street and Grace Street) into exhibition venues for local design objects. In our initial planning stages, the two of us took the time to introduce ourselves and the project to the street’s business owners. We were very excited to...
We well know that we’ve been on an extended hiatus ever since last early last summer. Starting in June, our GOOD ENERGY was completely consumed by GOOD BIKES; but with our related publication and film projects wrapping up early next week, we’re ready to resume our blogging activities! Please stay tuned for our current musings and discoveries re: THE GOOD. Lately we’ve been...
December 2011
7 posts
Some Polaroids taken inside MASSMoCA in North Adams. Vanessa and I made the pilgrimage this past summer and during our short stay south of the border we were fortunate enough to meet with with Denise Markonish. As one of only two curators at this sprawling and significant institution, Markonish has taken the lead on many exciting projects including the Sol LeWitt drawing retrospective. In...
THEY DON'T MAKE EM LIKE THEY USED TO...
Caroline
GOOD LOVE
Long ago, in the days of sunshine and short sleeves, the lovely lady Iva wrote us this …
Hello! // My name’s Iva, I’m a student at Humber College Lakeshore Campus. I live in Toronto, but commuting everyday through cement-filled and highway-crossed Etobicoke is not the most visually appealing of experiences. I was wondering, is there any chance we could work together to bring a good bike to...
BIG TIME CHRISTMAS WISH LIST
This is my dear friend Miles Gertler’s Christmas wish list circa ‘98. He was eight years old at the time. I was in tears when his sister, Isabel, showed it to me last night. You should know that Miles did end up getting a lazy boy chair and he does have a more attractive bathroom these days. Alas, he never got the jet pack or the teepee. Keep dreaming big Miles!
Caroline
FOR JENNA MORRISON
These photos were taken on the the memorial bike ride for Jenna Morrison, a wonderful woman recently killed in a tragic cycling accident on Toronto’s Sterling Rd. Hundreds of people came out at 7:30am on the morning of November 14 to ride for Jenna. It was incredibly touching and powerful to see such a collective outpouring of love and support for the fallen cyclist and her...
COREY AND CANDLES
This is our friend Corey Moranis, an all around creative genius. These beautiful candles are her latest and greatest. What’s not to love about mason jars, crystals, glitter and a flame? We love this girl’s energy and vision. She bakes, makes dolls, takes beautiful analog photographs and makes us laugh. Corey, will you be a GOOD ARTIST? Pretty please!?
Caroline
OTHER GOOD/NEON/BIKE PROJECTS
The Neon Dog Project by Dave Bedrich.
We found this locked up near the OCAD U Student Gallery. It’s maker remains unknown!
After reading about The Good Bike Project, some folks in Thessaloniki, Greece have started their own bike project called The Recycling Project. We are so thrilled!
Caroline
November 2011
8 posts
SUNDAY NIGHT IN CHINA TOWN
Caroline
THE GOOD ARTIST: ALEA DRAIN
Who are you? I’m Alea Drain and I’m a visual artist based in Toronto. I am a recent graduate of OCAD U and currently work in a medium that I developed during my final year in school. Using a sewing machine without thread, I free-motion embroider (draw) into large pieces of Washi paper, creating an image by backlighting the paper so the light shines through the holes. I also layer with colored...
COURAGE MY LOVE
Caroline
INTERVIEW WITH CECE SCRIVER OF COURAGE MY LOVE
Could you give me a brief explanation of how Courage came to be?
Well, it all started with my mom and dad. They were teachers but were both really into antiques. At some point they decided that it might be a good idea to start selling their antiques and so they opened a little store at 60 Cecil Street. It was in a coach house behind what was a KFC at the time, right besides Grossmans on...
Natty high waisted trousers, waist coat and watch fob. This is Michael Louis Johnson. He is a Toronto musician extrodinaire. Catch him play in the Lemon Bucket Orkestra and at the Communist’s Daughter, every Saturday at four.