Arts Explorer #9: Guerrilla Art

Here's a video documenting the guerrilla art action we planned (though of course, I cannot confirm or deny that we are the ones executing this art action in the video...).


Canadian Aboriginal Women and Families in Toronto from Rose Lugue on Vimeo.

We brought in a talented artist friend to help us think of a powerful visual and decided that postering would be the most effective method for our purposes. We wanted to link this art action to our community arts project, so the poster symbolizes different elements of our message and our thinking: women, children, family, transparency/invisibility, the circle (reminiscent of the unity collage or a medicine wheel), and an urban landscape. My art word of the week is balance because I think this visual really represents an (almost) symmetrical harmony as described by Shirrmacher and Fox (2009) in their definition of the word.

The visual was deliberately displayed without text so that the process of interpreting it would be more open-ended. We wanted people to notice it as they walked by, but be left with a feeling of uncertainty - a need for further exploration as opposed to all questions answered.

Sadly, when I returned to the scene the next day, our poster had fallen down. I wanted to ask a few passersby what they thought about it, or get some shots of people observing the artwork, but I wasn't able to because it was in a lump on the grass. Only the tip of the technicolour CN Tower remained.

Despite this unfortunate ending, I thought this assignment was really exciting. Knowing that the poster didn't stay up only made me want to do so much more of this kind of art! Not that I necessarily had anything to do with this poster action... or intend to engage in any illegal activity in the future... but it feels amazing to come up with a concept or idea, think of a way to communicate it visually, and go out into the street to show it off. I've never been a patient artist and I love anything that allows me to create and prototype ideas relatively quickly, then see how things go and try again. I think street art could be a really good option!

I also think that this kind of creation process would be really great for young children to learn. Trial and error, learning from mistakes, pushing through obstacles. When a child comes up with an idea, why not encourage them to try it out even if it sounds crazy? (Granted, it should be safe...).
If it doesn't go as planned, ask why! What could be changed? Encourage problem-solving and inquiry. That's what I felt street art encouraged me to do, and I think it would be an equally valid process in ECE settings.

And now, I leave you with an amazing piece of work on the Toronto graffiti scene by Ryerson student Char Loro, and a link to some really fantastic street art blogs if you're interested.


GOODBYE GRAFFITI from Char Loro on Vimeo.

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References

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J. E. (2009). Art and creative

     development for young children. Belmont, CA:

     Delmar.