DRAW GRAFFITI MURALS

GRAFFITI PICTURES! I finally cracked and decided there was no alternative. I made a big sign, like any respectable derelict, and went to the streets to protest the world. The amazing thing about sitting there on the side walk was that I’d finally found a place to talk about humanist ideas and ideals. People actually started stopping to look at my “save the world” sign and as a result that sign just kept getting kept getting bigger. What had started out as sketching in the streets (read more about my street art graffiti history here) had become a full force large scale mural painting performance. My crazy-person-save the world was anywhere up 20 x 20 feet and often took up an entire street corner. Eventually I found crowds of people gathering around me giving life to my madness while sharing a little bit of their own.

The most interesting and successful part of this experiment was that the conversations were about our lives, the city, social problems, political solutions and possible actions towards change. I met thousands of people from all over the world and in each individual instance, we discussed philosophies while growing and learning from each other’s experiences. I was no longer a reclusive pedestal artist but in fact quite the opposite; I became a person, and a part of the city. 

Prior to my street performances I found it really hard to connect with people because everyone only wanted to talk about themselves or some mundane gossip regarding their popular interests but somehow the artwork permitted me the opportunity to initiate a dialogue about things slightly less superficial. The fact that I never had listen to any of the typical selfish and meaningless consumerist bull out there was particularly amazing because I was situated right in the middle of one of Toronto's most popular shopping districts!