Art in Signs on the streets of Toronto

Art in signs on the streets of Toronto 

What’s in a sign? Can it be art?

Art signs on the streets of Toronto vary from official signs, to quirky love poetry to graffiti wars and everything in between. It’s all created and designed by someone. Right?

On my morning runs over the years, I traversed through most of the streets of Toronto, back alleys and all. Along the way, I saw the birth of art murals, questions pondering life, poems spray painted on sidewalks, signage in repair and disrepair and graffiti tags layered upon layers.

I’m fascinated by all of it.
The art in these signs – that is the collective voice of Toronto. 

Some are creative, some lazy, some angry and some very methodical. When I explore a  neighbourhood, I feel like a kid in a candy store. Every corner offers a new delight. There is so much to see and take in. Every morning run, I would select a new direction to discover novel sights. My fave thought (and underlying goal) was and still is: 

‘I’ve never run this way before’. 

A place to call home. Street culture to discover.

Every hood in Toronto has its own flavour, it’s own culture. I consider myself lucky knowing, there are very few places in The Six I have not visited by foot, bicycle, TTC or car. My favourite journeys through the city has always been at the crack of dawn, 5am to 7am. On these morning jaunts, I fell in love with the early rising Toronto. 

Early Mornings. They’re different.

The city hits you different at dawn. The ‘town’ is quiet. Sleepy. 

At 5am, the streets and the signs wait in calm anticipation of the day’s new soles, wandering glances, pedestrian commentary. 

Often, I would be up and out before dawn and the streets were practically empty, waiting for me. It felt as if the city belong to me, just me. Experiencing this stillness in such a large city felt like stealing a piece of cake from the pantry – delicious. Decadent even. As I ran through the streets, I always took the time to wave at the TTC drivers. They know the magic of this early hour.

No congestion. No traffic. Just the road, your route, your way and new art signs to discover. 

Street art surprises don’t last long. 

Art graffiti or street art (both of which I consider to be different from gang graffiti or tagging) have a life of their own. They are born. They live for a time and then they die. Some survive merely days as a newborn, a birth of culture. Quickly painted over (spruced up) after a few days by a fervent shop owner, the city or another creator. Others may endure years on an alley wall or under a bridge, decades even and live longer than you and I. 

I love that about street art. The life of each piece of art is a mystery. 

It is there for you to discover. But, not forever. By the time you call a friend and say, ‘you gotta come see this beautiful piece of street art’ and haul their ass out to the dead end of the plaza slated for redevelopment, that unique piece of art may be gone. It may be born and dead on the same day. 

Crafted, painted, designed, graffitied (yes, I made up that word) signs are often clandestine. They live on the edge of time. Their days are numbered. I wish I could see them all before they disappear. Alas, I burn into my memory what I can and stop to take a quick snap with my smartphone, as often as possible. Years ago, I put together a solo photography show called: Ubiquitous iphoneography Toronto show. To this day, I remember where and when each photo was taken.  (You can see a sneak peek into the show on youtube here)

The street art grew into the mesh of my being. It is a part of me. Maybe that is one of the great experiences of street art, no? 

Do you notice the signs? 

Maybe you catch a new art piece on a garage door. Observe it once or twice. Then, it disappears from your consciousness. The third or fourth week you pass by, on your way to work, the colours, the words, the creative mean nothing. The art sign is still there, but not for you…

One day you trip and as you rub your scraped knee, look up and there it is: Oronto. You noticed it the broken city sign the first day and then forgot it was there. Funny that. 

Who does the street art?

Ever wonder what inspired someone to create a graffiti wall mural, a piece of art? 

I think about this person often. What are they going through in life? Is the graffiti an extension of their feelings or thoughts? Possibly, it is a necessary marking of phase in their life, in their week, in their relationship with something or someone? Is it an angry exclamation on the street, that street corner, when ‘that’ happened? What if it is a proposal to someone, to the city, to themselves even? 

Reasons why.

Maybe it was a dare. No. It was a love cry for unrequited love. Wait, maybe it was an extension of their soul reaching out into this world. It was a mess of emotions.  It could be a beginning or an ending. 

Whatever the case may be. 

It is a bridge – a bridge between an artist and her environment. 

Postscript

There are so many signs on the streets of Toronto. 

My top 5 types of signs (in no particular order) 

• Graffiti notes to self (or to society, especially ones on ruins to be abolished in gentrification)
• Love poetry
• Wall murals (the bigger the better)
• Social commentary (marking the state of the hood, era, political landscape)
• Broken street signs (especially government broken streets signs, a self commentary of a city, if you will)

Here’s another look into my iphoneography series photography show, on youtube.