Site: Southeast corner of Bay Street and King Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Time: Monday July 20, 2009 12:30- 2:30 pm
Photos!
It was a sunny afternoon in downtown Toronto as business folk in pin-striped suits, tourists buried in city maps, and street ramblers alike migrated hastily from point A to B along the bustling cross-walks of Bay and King Street.
Today's We Paint! was situated on the southeast corner of the street, comfortably and perhaps suitably propped up next to a CIBC Bank logo.
Our first painter was doubtful of his artistic talents as he picked up a paint brush and marked the canvas. He then lingered watching us coax 90 second slots out of passersby.
A couple eating hot dogs alongside the canvas watched noting how people tended to avoid making eye contact when spoken to, even though the call was an enthusiastic tone and mostly harmless.
One (cookie gifting) participant posed a question of "how much money is 90 seconds worth to the people who work on Bay Street?". It is possible, we speculated, that asking for 90 seconds is equivalent to asking for a million dollars.
Nonetheless we managed to create a piece that is reflective of that day. Business men multi-tasked as they made calls on their Blackberries with brush in hand, tourists who couldn't find their way decided to stop and paint penguins, a mother-to-be expectantly painted the word "baby", and one gentleman's craft tells all of those who pass by the canvas that "Jesus love U".
It seems that Monday lunch hour is a particularly rushed time for the inhabitants of Bay Street. There were many promises of fulfilling the task "on the way back", from where is unclear.
There will be a return to this site in the future to test out the time variable.
How much money is 90 seconds worth after 5 pm on a Friday?
To be continued...
*Special thanks to Sidney Cohen, Lo Bil, and Hannah Etlin-Stein for making this We Paint! a success!
