During my first season on the Queen West (2004) I was basically the only practising artist amidst a sea of artisans and jewellery vendors. However as a result of my success, exposure and personal recommendations the street soon filled with fine art. Painters, illustrators and photographers quickly joined the parade as Queen St. West became a hub of adventure and a happening spot for local exhibitors. On any given weekend as many as 20 artists set up shop all around me and the life force and energy was breaching unknown heights. At first the growth was exciting and I felt overwhelmed with creative inspiration yet as I mentioned before the exhilaration led to many difficult situations. The city by law enforcers took note of our activities and perpetually swept the streets clean. It was brought to our attention that our activities were illegal.
MONSTER COMICS street performance
Almost every Saturday morning the officers would come down and threaten us with tickets and seizure of our goods. To our benefit this quickly cleared out most of the jewellers and artisans as they hadn’t a leg to stand on as most of their products were not hand made. We often found ourselves packing up shop and hiding in local cafes until the City of Toronto trucks disappeared. As soon as the coast was cleared we would return to the streets and start up our productively creative activities once more. Eventually it got to the point were this would happen more than once in a day so we were forced to confront the police and attempt to stand our grounds. Fortunately this bold action was met with some leniency as the officer’s gave us instructions on probable means of gaining licences. This information led us to 112 Elizabeth Street, the former bureau for Torontonian Municipal licensing. The officers in that building attempted to turn us away but eventually granted us the same permits one uses to busk. Technically this prohibited the sale and display of our artworks allowing only for performances and the collection of donations. However having discussed the situation and followed their advice the particular enforcers working on Queen Street let these permits pass. For the rest of the season most of us operated semi-legally using the 25 dollar buskers license as a sign of respect. The by-law officers let the permits pass and we no longer felt intimidated and worked free from despair. Interestingly enough only a handful of artists actually acquired these permits yet the officers seldom checked in on the rest.
Having stumbled over one of the streets major hurdles the act of public exhibition became stress free but for me the problems had only begun. Now that we were legal a new war had begun as I found myself perpetually hounded by viscous completion. The reason I say viscous and not healthy or competitive is because several new street vendors started taking aim directly at me. The first such encounters were in regards to my spot. There are unwritten rules regarding ones set up location, however the truth be told the situation depends on somewhat of a first come first serve ideology. Midway through my second season performing I’d carved out a nice little spot for my self underneath a large tree. There was nothing particularly distinguishing about the location when compared with the other’s but like all a creatures of habit I’d taken to a liking to my concrete home. I was clearly the most successful artist on the block and by some strange psychology many other’s attributed my sales to the spot. On numerous occasions I’d arrive to find one of my “colleagues” set up under that tree. They mostly argued that the spot was the best though I as one of the few who had purchased the permit I generally had little trouble reclaiming my land. To avoid the aggravation I was forced to set up early each morning knowing full well that my competetors had aimed to steal my position, not only physically but in terms of recognition.
The situation elevated as those same artists, who I’d introduced to the practice, started imitating my artworks as well location. More and more black and white images started appearing on canvas’ once dawned with color and at least three other street vendors started drawing with hand made bamboo pens. I saw heads split in two with word bubbles citing “This keeps happening” right beside my exploding heads which spoke out phrases like “not again!”. I tried to ignore it but the situation reached new apexes and I was forced into confrontation right out in the streets. On one occasion I actually had to drag another artists paintings across the sidewalk were I put them beside mine and embarrassingly pointed out the exacting details of the compositions. In another instance I arrived extra early only to find one of the artist, formerly of color work, had spread a large sheet of white paper in my regular location and was drawing building with ink. This may all sound bizarre but I ended up confronting and obtaining confessions from numerous artists as well as collected samples of the imitated artworks which I've chosen not to include in any publications for various reasons including good taste.The entire situation became unbearably frustrating but through determination, perseverance and by waking up really early in the morning I finished the season successfully despite the absurd irritations.
Toronto Skyline Ink on Board Sept. 2005
All this frustration aside the majority of the work brought to the streets was fresh and unique. Many of the artist celebrated individual triumphs and impressed and contributed to the little carnival which continued to grow into major attraction in the city of Toronto 2005. The entire ordeal both good and the bad pushed me in positive and innovative directions so that by the end of the summer I’d revised my display and expanded my drawing techniques. At the end of the season I stopped painting rapid live performance artworks and sat back to sum up my discoveries through a series of extremely detailed pen and ink studies. Had it not been for the copy-cats and criticisms I might not have been so determined to push the artwork in new directions. Between the Sept. and Oct. of 2005 I made 33 intricate illustrations which were reproduced as prints replacing all my small hand-drawn artworks included in my street art exhibitions. To this very day these drawings, which took as long as 150 hours, remain as some of my favourite artworks in the HEY APATHY! Collection. (street art chronology continued tomorrow season three 2006)
The City Monster ink on board Sept. 2005
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