Jordan Seiler (of Public Ad Campaign and NYSAT) started testing the waters for interest in doing a Toronto advertising takeover, similar to the ones he and teams of tireless volunteers and artists had accomplished in New York City and Los Angeles. The e-mail content steadily grew, local and international arts collectives were graciously on board, and eventually TOSAT not only had interest but art, cars, supplies and a dedicated crew of installers to put the whole project on the streets.
After nailing down the date of Sunday August 22nd, 2010 for the takeover, we met at our predetermined headquarters to settle the final details. Knobs were taken off doors (for unscrewing the signs), binders with stickers and maps were given to each team, and of course, rolls upon rolls of artwork were put in bags to replace illegal signage across the city.
One of the participating artists, Sean Martindale was installing his own work, which was an impressive magnetized piece that could be affixed to a Pattison ad without actually damaging the structure. Plastic shapes protruded from its surface. Filled with dirt, they housed small plants: A welcome change from the bombardment of advertising for which Pattison hadn’t even a permit.
The rest of us tumbled into our respective cars, and probably confusing the neighbours, we head to different parts of the city to begin installing work. I rode across town with Jordan, Liliana Velasquez, and a member from a film crew who was capturing all the TOSAT happenings for a documentary film. He and his team were shooting similar reactions to advertising world-wide.
After a couple of false starts, we finally made it to our first location in front of a Beer Store on Bathurst. The employees inside and neighbours across the street were genuinely amused by the steady progress the team was making with the advertising pillars, taking out each ad and neatly replacing it with a fantastic piece of art-work. In spite of the rain, everyone kept a steady pace… Two down, so very many to go…
Liliana and I opted to stay in the van for the second round, working on her makeup for what was to be the first two performances in her series, Live, Love, Laugh. as performed in the character, The Goddess of Transformation. While practicing her moves along the shaky ride, flicking her hands and arms in precise move
ments to a beautiful piece of music, "J'aime Bien" by Bertrand Betsch, she tells me about The Goddess. “She’s a person that’s inspiring to young women and girls… Telling them it’s okay to make mistakes… The transformative instances that always seem so regrettable and tragic when they occur, but are ultimately beneficial. It’s important to let girls know there’s a lot of beauty in the process of growing up and changing your perspective. There’s no shame in taking risks.”
We got nervous around College and Bathurst. There had been a lot of sir
ens and police cars rolling by, but we figure that so far, our boys have made it safely form pillar to pillar. I pop out of the van a couple of times (they were out of our range of site, covering several signs at once) and saw a police car with its cherries on just south of us. Regrettably, it was an accident, but I was simultaneously glad it wasn’t anything to do with us… Police reaction to our billboard takeover has been a concern throughout this project, though the TOSAT was incredibly prepared for the possible, though highly unlikely, negative outcome.
The van rolled on to Queen and Soho where Liliana cued her music and performs her dance in front of a very inquisitive Sunday crowd on the street. She ripped off black fabric set up by the TOSAT crew to reveal the three portions of her performance. In a black corset and Victorian inspired gown, she whipped around the pillar, making it the most attractive portion of the street on such a dull, grey kind of day. She finishes with a flourish with a bright red Asian silk fan and is met with applause from the accidental audience.
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