the good bike

On a trip to Toronto in the summertime, I was pleasantly surprised to find the colourful bikes on the street. How foolish of me to think it was a subsidized art initiative from The City! What kind of world would we live in if people’s creativity was welcomed and encouraged by our administrations?

In all seriousness: the bikes are fun, different, and even beautiful. Instead of crashing down on the idea, the city should plan to make an annual event to have the abandoned bikes decorated and displayed over the summer. This raises awareness of art, cycling, creativity, sense of community, waste management, sustainable practices, etc. It’s just simply a wonderful concept. 

Hope this letter helps your cause. Sincerely,

Marie-Pier Demers (Ottawa)

Two weeks ago, we were partying with friends and friendly strangers at our favourite bar, The Avro in Queen Street East. The cupcake-laden, beer-doused evening was organized to launch THE GOOD BIKE PROJECTpublication and film, and to bring together everyone who helped us realize that city-wide neon vision. The publication is a self published wrap-up designed by the talented Andy Callahan. Its pages include photos, press excerpts, write-ups for each of THE GOOD BIKE PROJECT’s sixty painted bikes and an essay on our experience as artists on a politically charged project. The film, which was produced by The Public Assembly, is just plain awesome. We’re so thankful to have footage from that crazy, wonderful summer that connected us with so many amazing, community-minded people in Toronto. Things certainly felt cosy at The Avro, and we’d like to thank the bar’s dynamic duo, Bruce and Rachel, for hosting us that night and for taking such good care of us always. Cheers again to everyone who came out to our party, and to all of those who lent their hands and hearts to THE GOOD BIKE PROJECT! *** FYI, the publication is available for sale at the OCAD U Student Gallery (and will soon also be available at Art Metropole). 

Heavy, wet flakes of snow were falling outside, and Dundas Street looked all shades of brown and grey. Adding to the scene was an abandoned, rusted Raleigh bicycle, which we were pondering from the dry and relatively warm front room at the OCAD U Student Gallery where we are the Program Coordinators. Together we started considering ways to use it as a pseudo sign-board for the Gallery in the springtime. It had a beautiful frame, complete with curved handlebars and a wire basket. A coat of bright paint and some greenery would be nice, we thought. Little did we know that this brainstorming session was determining our summer plans.

On a bright May afternoon the bike was sanded, primed and painted, much to the interest of passersby. Some were perplexed, asking us why we were wasting time painting a piece of garbage. Others told us the bike was a valuable antique and probably worth some money.  A pair of policemen wandered over from the station at the corner and asked us we were up to. On hearing about our rusted bike they left, only to return later with a list of flower varieties that would suit the bike’s basket. Kids were the most enthused about the painted Raleigh, and many stopped to talk about its transformation. One girl asked us to paint her bike orange, and a number of others stopped to say “cool” or “sweet bike”. A passing elderly man waved his cane and exclaimed, “that’s one funky-ass bike you’ve got there”. One woman stopped us to shake our paint-covered hands and to thank us for making our street more beautiful. When the bike was completed, we watched from inside the Gallery as people gathered around the glowing bicycle to chat and take photos. 

Our small, simple act of beautification morphed into something bigger thanks to the perfect storm that surrounded it. The climate in Toronto has been tense ever since conservative Mayor Rob Ford took office in December as he’s picked fight after fight with the “left wing pinkos” living in the city’s core. Liberal city dwellers take particular issue with his decidedly anti-bike and anti-art policies. Ford once referred to cyclists as a collective “pain in the ass” during a Council meeting, and he has publicly condemned their so-called “War on the Car” on several occasions. In June, his motion to remove the newly installed Jarvis bicycle lane became a reality. His cause is the bottom dollar and he denounces cycling safety as a waste of money, which seems contradictory when you consider that it will cost the City $200 000 to remove a bike lane that cost $59 000 to be installed. Unsurprisingly, Ford is not a patron of the arts either: In the spring, he announced a “War on Graffiti” that resulted in the removal of a barely completed, publicly funded mural in the Junction neighbourhood; and during the election, Ford was booed from the Art Gallery of Ontario where he spoke against the merits of public arts funding.

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Long ago, in the days of sunshine and short sleeves, the lovely lady Iva wrote us this …

Hello! // My name’s Iva, I’m a student at Humber College Lakeshore Campus. I live in Toronto, but commuting everyday through cement-filled and highway-crossed Etobicoke is not the most visually appealing of experiences. I was wondering, is there any chance we could work together to bring a good bike to my Humber Campus and make it a little more colourful please? Take care! // Iva Jericevic

We painted her a bike and she installed it on the Humber campus. Last week we got another email from Iva with these photos! It read: The lovely thing is, I don’t know who did this. I’ll probably put a small ‘thank you’ sign somewhere. It’s part of the community here now! :)

These photos are from the memorial bike ride held in memory of Jenna Morrison, a wonderful woman who was recently killed in a tragic cycling accident on Sterling Road and Dundas Street West. Hundreds of people came out at 7:30 AM on the morning of November 14th to ride together for Jenna. It was incredibly touching to see such an outpouring of love and support. Geoffrey Bercarich installed a ghost bike on the corner of Sterling and Dundas, while Jenna’s friends and family addressed the crowd that had gathered around the bike. The ghost bike remains, covered in notes and flowers for Jenna.  My heart goes out to her family and friends. I can’t imagine the pain they must be feeling at this time. 

In order to prevent this from happening again, please sign this petition for proper side guards on trucks. There will be a fundraiser to raise money for Jenna’s five year old son Lucas at The Garrison on Thursday December 15th. It looks like it will be a fabulous evening of music, dancing and remembering. Check out the facebook page here. 

Caroline

The Neon Dog Project, by Dave Bedrich.

We found this locked up near the OCAD U Student Gallery. It’s maker remains unknown! 

After reading about The Good Bike Project, some folks in Thessaloniki, Greece have started their own bike project called The Recycling Project. We are so thrilled.

All but one of the abandoned bikes we painted on College Street (between Huron and Spadina) have been removed! We spray painted them so the City would see that they were abandoned and take them off of their bike posts. It took longer than expected, but finally there are more parking spots for cyclists in front of the Lilian Smith Library! Hooray! 

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With our Good Bikes spread throughout the city, cleaning them up responsibly with little support from the City seemed a daunting task. That is, until Brian Platten came along. 

After reading Ben Spurr’s latest article on the Good Bikes in NOW Magazine, Brian called us at the Gallery to offer us his U-haul, his tools and his weekend. We drove all around Toronto retrieving our bikes: Some went to an artist in Parkdale, who wants to weld the bikes together to make a larger Good Bike sculpture; others were dropped off with people who’ve asked to adopt them; and Brian took the rest of the bikes to a recycling plant. 

Our bike clean up was epic.  Brian was not only patient but extremely helpful, loading all of the bikes into his U-hual himself. He even sawed a sad looking bike in half to release it after its lock had been stuffed with glue. Riding around the city in Brian’s truck was great fun. He told us stories about his dog, his family, his love for rock n’ roll and B-rated horror flicks. He even took us to visit Smash his favourite furniture store). 

When we told Brian how grateful we were for his time and truck, he told us that he was happy to help and that it was the least he could do. As we drove by the village of tents for Occupy Toronto, he remarked that in these tough times artists are often hit the hardest. He believes that pursuing a career in the arts is both a noble and scary pursuit, and that he tries his best to help artists by moving their art or furniture for them in his spare time. “It’s my way of doing my bit to help,” Brian said. “If everyone did their bit, we’d live in a much better world.” 

It was surprisingly sad to say goodbye to Brian at the end of our day together. Thank you so much Brian, for your overwhelming kindness. 

P.S Brian moves everything from furniture to art to electronics. If you need a mover - email him at bnd.haulage@gmail.com. Honest, the man is a super hero. 

Dear Vandal —- Don’t you realize that by writing “NOT ART” on our bikes, you’ve turned them into Duchampian objects? Love it! Thanks. —- Love, The Good Girls

This faux Good Bike was spotted on Queen Street East. While, this baby Copy-Cat Bike was found in Grange Park! 

After reading an incorrect, frustrating article about our GOOD BIKES and absorbing some nasty emails from critics, Vanessa and I found this recording in our email inbox. We gave it a listen and were so touched that we just about cried. The recording is by Sam (age 7), Maeve (age 5) and their mom Alison, who have recently joined The Public Art Project, a collaborative project by iEARN-Pangea, to learn more about public art and share their thoughts and findings on the subject with people from around the world. 

Our project has received lots of media coverage over the last few months; however, most of them focus on the negative rather than the positive, and few journalists have taken the time to learn about the colour code before report on the project. Thank you so much to Sam, Maeve and Alison, for taking the time to learn about our project and sharing your thoughts and ideas with us! You have summed it up perfectly!

We are thrilled to announce that Sam, Maeve and Alison will be the owners of our very last GOOD BIKE. It’s a blue bike for community builders. How fitting!

Mix by Dave. Cover by Caroline.

279 Augusta Avenue ————-Model Citizen has been promoting and supporting local fashion designers and artists long before it was trendy. Not only does the clothing store sell the work of local designers, but the store’s collection of clothes and accessories are carefully chosen, uber stylish and always pushing the boundaries of current fashion trends. Although Model Citizen exudes hip, the store feels old fashioned as it is run by a local artist Julian Fickle and his lovely partner Georgia. They are often in the store together with their beautiful babies, welcoming visitors and giving out great fashion advice. Julian teaches silk-screening workshops in the basement of the store and his own designs can be found on the stores collection of T-shirts.

Hi Caroline and Vanessa,

My kids (Sam, 7 and Maeve, 5) and I happily play and learn together at home and out and about in the city. One of the initiatives we’ve recently joined is the Public Art Project, a collaborative project by iEARN-Pangea (http://publicart.iearn.cat/p/info.html) When I asked the kids if they had any ideas about which piece of public art they’d like to learn more about and share with others, their immediate response was ‘the art bikes!’

As you’ve so deservedly been covered widely in the media, we were able to learn a great deal about The Good Bike project. We also plan to take photos of our favourite ones, make a sound recording of their locales and then an audio recording of all we’ve learned and post it to the site. The kids had a few remaining questions though and have asked that I email them to you. (They’re shy, but if you did want to meet up to answer their questions in person, I’m pretty sure they’d be thrilled - though they may not utter a world :) ) If you’ve time to send us your responses, that would be fantastic.

1) Do you remember your first bike?
2) Why do you paint them just with solid colours and not use stripes or polka dots or other designs?
3) Did you think about putting baskets on all of the bikes and instead of just flowers, also plant vegetables so they could be mini community gardens? We could help.
4) What is your favourite piece of public art - in Toronto or anywhere?
5) Why can’t more art be free (inside art too) so everyone can see it?
6) Do you ride your bike in Toronto? What colour is it? Do you think Rob Ford will learn how important biking and bike lanes are?

Thanks so much for this - and for bringing thoughtful colour to our streets.

Alison (and Sam and Maeve)

C80 BPNICHOL LANE ——— Coach House Books was a hub of art activity in the late 60s and early 70s as conceptualism began to take hold and artists’ books and multiples became important pieces of the visual art puzzle. But it also served a completely practical purpose, as a generous provider of discounted flyers and posters for art shows for such budding Canadian art giants as Greg Curnoe and General Idea. Inevitably, it became a sort of clubhouse for a community of artists steeped in the pre-Mink mile Yorkville scene, gathering around a now-storied, battered wooden table to share coffee, ideas — and, as the tell-tale burns might suggest a few other things — in a feelgood moment of collective creativity. ——- Written by Murray Whyte

401 RICHMOND ST W ——- In another life, 401 Richmond isn’t there, cratered, like so many other sturdy industrial buildings near the Queen and Spadina hub, to make way for newer, shinier, more commercially viable projects (and yes, I mean condos.) Such would have been its fate had the Zeidler family not stepped in in 1994 with a vision: Keep the building, and keep the arts in the central downtown core. As anyone can see by its immediate surroundings, the threat was real: The Gap, H&M, Club Monaco, HMV — you can hardly tell this was the centre of the city’s vibrant art scene in the 1980s. 401 RIchmond both preserves that legacy and allows it to grow anew, providing below-market rents for seminal artist-run centres like YYZ, A Space, Gallery 44 and Prefix Photo, as well as venerable commercial galleries like Wyntick Tuck. ——- Written by Murray Whyte

I have spent more time than I would like to admit YouTubing TED Talks, so naturally I was thrilled to be accepted as a delegate for this year’s TEDX Toronto event.

Redefinition was the theme of the day. The event’s speakers ranged from tech wizards to doctors to activists and teachers. Nicholas Shiefer, a grade twelve student, discussed his frustration with current search engines. For his high school science fair he developed a new kind of search engine that uses networks to represent words.  Ariel Garten talked about a mind-controlled computing system she has designed that could be used to help people with ADHD. Rob Spence (aka Eyeborg) spoke about the positive advancements technology has had on prosthetic limbs using his own personal story as an example. Spence lost an eye as a child and has since then replaced it with a camera which he considers essential to his career as a documentary film maker. Joshna Maharaj is trying to revolutionize hospital food; and Dr. Brian Goldman spoke honestly about the mistakes he has made as a doctor in order to expose the misconception that doctors are infallible. Goldman believes that doctors should not have to deny mistakes out of fear and shame, but should be encouraged to be open about them in order to prevent the same mistakes from being made by others. Adam Garone, founder of Movember, spoke candidly about how he has redefined the moustache for men; and Carlyle Jansen, the founder of Good For Her, spoke about redefining relationships through adventure and honesty. 

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Last week, I attended a figurative drawing class at City Hall. The class took place before the ten o’clock Council meeting in which Ford’s proposed cuts to the Arts were to be debated. All onlookers were invited to draw the Counselors as they debated the fate of the Arts. Those who submitted their drawings at the end of the meeting will be included in an art show called “Drawing Lines: Figurative Studies of Toronto City Council.” The date and location of the show is still to be announced.

As I approached City Hall, sleepy and hungry, I was pleased to find a number of picnic benches in the centre of the square. On them, dozens of people sat squished together, sketching in their notebooks. I sat beside David, a five year old boy, who had brought with him crayons, markers and a few pads of paper. He announced proudly as I sat down that he was “the best drawer in his family.”  

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