“We heart public art!”

I am on top of the world! …or at least that’s how I feel right now. I’m sitting on my bed, trying to type as quietly as possible. My fingers are covered with gesso, there’s someone sleeping on the living room futon and I’ve no idea who it is, and my poor little feet, so accustomed to flip-flops after a nice long summer, ache from a night in heels. And I can’t stop smiling! Sure, I’d like to lie down and drift off to sleep, but I’d rather blog like a madwoman before I forget.

Did you notice the title of this post in quotation marks? No, it’s not a cheap “I Heart Huckabees” reference, but it is a quotation. From where, from what, from whom am I quoting? Get yourself to the corner of Bernard and Clark in Mile End and you’ll see…

This is, in simplest terms, a box. A box built by Alexandre David for an installation at The Park With No Name, lovingly put together and advertised as always by Dare-Dare. A box (well, when folded) that is easy to transport on wheels that becomes an instant seating area. At the screening beneath the overpass, this very box was much appreciated by Risa, Tessa, Alanah and myself as we enjoyed repeat viewings of Assembly 1.0 projects, the Video Hymn mix tape, and the Montreal premiere of Infest Wisely by Jim Munroe of No Media Kings. (The awesomeness of the screening is, alas, a different post…)

Throughout the evening, we were continually reminded by our Dare-Dare hosts that these seating installation pieces were easy to move and meant to be moved… but no one had attempted to do so! Not a group to shy away from a challenge, after the projectors were packed and the crowd began to dissipate, we fumbled our way around our cozy corner until we had it folded and locked, ready to transport.

Our original plan was to take the piece to a nearby elementary school, in the hopes that it would become part of the playground, but as we saw the open space just waiting to be filled on the northwest corner of Bernard and Clark, well… We had to unfold our wooden friend and admire it in its new home! Lacking decorative materials or even Sharpies, we wrote a few notes on the wood in pen: Indyish moved it and We heart public heart, among others. I thought, Lucky me, I live just two blocks away and can easily come back tomorrow and paint with bright colours! But even after Risa, Alanah, and I moved on to the Green Room and I found myself fascinated by tales of Infest Wisely’s original showing at DefCon in Las Vegas, I was itching to get up and do something — anything! — to the box.

So I did. I ran home, grabbed a pot of gesso and a paintbrush, and let my heart flutter as I saw the piece safely right where we left it. But without colourful paint and way beyond without a plan, I simply began to paint “We heart public art” in big bubble letters on one wall. (Hey, I added “a work in progress” on the other to make it obvious…)

Strangely enough, my live midnight painting prompted only one person to venture questions. Mike, a Nun’s Island resident heading to his car, stopped to ask me about the box, its purpose, and my painting. We ended up chatting until I finished the “first draft,” and since Photo Booth here on my MacBook seems to take only mirror-image pictures, he took a bunch with his cell phone to email to me (for later posting). The publicness of this public art has already begun!

I almost want to grab a blanket and sleep on the box for fear it will be gone by sunrise. Alas, I will not, because if it is gone tomorrow — and this is using blissful ignorance against the possibility of the city’s removing or dismantling it — then I’ll know it’s out there, serving its purpose: being a piece of public art and functioning as a public space, passed on from one happy group to the next. At least I captured the moment.

If you’re in the area, do drop in to say hello!