IN THE FRONTLINES –
TORONTO PUBLIC SPACE COMMITTEE
The Toronto Public Space Committee is certainly a
going concern these days, what with the competition for
seemingly shrinking urban visual options. This group, which
has been getting a lot of media attention lately, has a
definite relation to the way we think about art in the public
sphere.
We recently caught up with TPSC and asked them a few
questions:
Can you tell us something about the origins of the
TPSC, and what its relation both to Toronto city arts programs
and to city space issues might be?
There are no natural advocates of public space, simply
because of the way that it is defined. Public space is negative
space - it is defined primarily by what it is not. As such,
it is the grids of our city - our streets, and the space
between our homes, schools and work. We are dedicated to
protecting our shared common spaces from commercial influence
and privatization. While some see the streets as an untapped
source of advertising revenue, we see protected public spaces
as a fundamental pillar of healthy democracy.
The Committee was founded by Dave Meslin in response to
the anti-postering bylaw, and since has grown to include
all issues of public space - street furniture (transit shelters,
garbage cans), illegal billboards, and community projects.
We believe that public spaces should support cultural and
social engagement rather than support commercial interests.
Public space is the guarantee of a space for citizens to
engage in society and interact with each other without commercial
influence. The Toronto Public Space Committee is a grassroots,
non-profit organization run completely by volunteers.
You are involved in a number of campaigns that have
been in the local news, particularly one concerning advertising
on the TTC, and another on billboard aesthetics. Can you
elaborate on the use of public space in regard to these
campaigns?
Our public space has been sold out from under us, and we
have become the stomping ground for commercial interest
and wealthy advertising companies. We are citizens first
and consumers second. Public space must reflect this distinction
and should be fully and equally accessible by all who walk
through it. We see ads now, just as we see the trees and
sky - they are just there. We think we have a better idea.
The TTC has been turned into a moving billboard. Instead,
of just complaining about the proliferation of ads, we decided
to look at alternatives. The TTC Art Exhibit was a call
to local artists and school children to reimagine what the
TTC could be if ads were replaced with art. We received
hundreds of submissions transforming the TTC's buses and
streetcars into giant strawberries and kiwis, or wrapped
in bright, vibrant designs. A ride on the TTC would only
increase by 3.5 cents if the city were to cancel all ad
contracts. And just imagine what it could do for tourism...people
would travel miles to take a ride the world's largest art
gallery.
As for billboard aesthetics, we are concerned about the
messages that giant ads are sending to Torontonians. The
content of the ads do not reflect the realities of our city.
Most often, ads can be sexist and not reflective of our
diversity, making us look like McCity. We don't want a sterile
city - and we don't reject the notion that our city needs
to be bright and flashy. But bright and flashy doesn't have
to mean commercial. Public art is fraught with imagination
and creativity - imagine what our spaces could be like if
we encouraged local artisans to display their work.
Some of the public are confused: on one hand, you
advocate against advertising (or, at least, ill - considered
advertising) in public spaces; yet on the other, you support
random postering, which is at times quite ugly. Can you
clarify this for us?
First and foremost, we believe in freedom of expression.
In terms of access, postering represents the fundamentals
of free expression. Anyone can poster, but very few can
afford a billboard to get their message out. To ban postering
would be self - defeating in fostering a democratic society.
It would limit civic engagement, and give commercial interests
the loudest voice. Democracy is about different voices being
heard all the time.
Diverse voices, oppositional voices, loud voices and soft
voices. These voices do not come from walls of billboards
that line our streets. They come from the community and
are found on homemade photocopied flyers, on community radio,
on websites, on murals painted in alleyways, on stickers
and on posters.
A healthy postering community is part of the colourful
fabric of our city. Posters are a part of the rich creativity
and cultural diversity that makes Toronto special. In many
communities postering is place for community messages. To
ban it would make public space the domain of the commercial
advertiser. We can work with the city to maintain free speech
while maintaining a clean and beautiful city.
Tell us more about your other innovative works, such
as the "de-fence" campaign, guerilla gardening,
and "thanks for riding" awareness programme. How
do these things help to inform us about the many ways we
can think of space in the city?
Through our community events, we lead by example by beautifying
the city without a big budget, without sponsors and without
logos. Together, we are reclaiming our streets and creating
community.
The aim of the Guerilla Gardeners is to bring more green
space into the concrete world that is Toronto. There may
be parks in Toronto but the run-down and neglected areas
always seem to out number them. Planting in these areas
makes them more appealing, sending a signal to the community
that people care about public spaces and are willing to
put their time and money into it. By planting in areas overrun
by concrete, gardeners declare with sunflowers and morning
glories that they have a different vision of what makes
a good city. This vision looks towards a city that incorporates
nature, rather than excluding or controlling it. Lastly,
gardening in areas around Toronto gives gardeners a stronger
sense of belonging and agency in the city. These feelings
in turn foster the desire to become even more involved in
the community.
Our Downtown defence campaign is to make our communities
look more beautiful and open. The TPSC will come to your
door and an army of volunteers will remove the fence and
material free of charge. We think chain link is by far the
ugliest fence in the city core - no one puts it up for aesthetic
reasons. And they create barriers and mistrust between neighbours
- it creates the illusion of a jail yard, rather than a
neighbourhood. By removing your fence, you create an open
neighbourhood - one that can foster a sense of closeness
and community.
What are some of your upcoming events?
Most of our events have just finished, but we are constantly
working on our advocacy and community projects. We invite
anyone who is interested to come to our open monthly meetings
and our project meetings to get involved. All of our information
is listed on www.publicspace.ca
Our next campaign in the works is Art Attack - An evening
of music, art-making and public space beautification. We
will transform a local venue into an Art Factory complete
with paper, art supplies, live music. Later in the evening
we will move outdoors and place our fresh artwork over commercial
advertising space. The city has sold visual expression rights
in public space, and we're buying it back...for free! Time
and place TBD.
And we have the Human River Walk coming up in May - we
follow the path of Toronto's largest underground waterway
- the Garrison Creek. It's a perfect way to explore and
learn about the city with friends and family.
And how can you be contacted?
www.publicspace.ca
is the best way to contact any of our campaign coordinators
to get involved.
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