Who tagged above? It is right outside a construction site in Guangzhou (also known as Canton in the past) , a city in Southeastern China. Was it someone fed up with rapid urban redevelopment? A common scenary in many major cities in China is the leveling of huge city blocks replacing them with highrises. The “pockets” that temporarily survive become “villages in a city” or cheng zhong cun (城中村). These areas are at times the synonym of ghettos. Can that be a better model of (non) development? Are there alternatives?

For those that don’t know, the Farine (flour) Five Roses sign is a towering behemoth of typography that floats over the near city center skyline of Montreal. It is putting it lightly to say that it is a fixture in the identity of the city. It has become more like the very language of the city.

Love it or hate it, the sign’s been part of the Montréal skyline for over sixty years, and sadly probably won’t be around much longer. Local designer and intermedia artist Matt Soar has just launched a participatory art project all about the Farine Five Roses sign at <www.farinefiveroses.ca>.

The first Google Maps alphabet, featuring all 26 letters, has been created from satellite images of natural features and buildings by Rhett Dashwood, a graphic designer from Australia.

imaginaryanimals.com

terryhughesimages.com

Belfast is intersected with many hulking ‘peace’ walls separating protestant (unionist) and catholic (republican) factions. Nowhere is the separation and animosity more serious than between the working class protestant Shankill Road and catholic Falls Road communities.

Al Jazeera English TV aired an insightful doc on the walls, the communities, and the political protest graffiti that dots either side of them. Apparently, certain artists, who have come to attain near celebrity status, from both sides, have ended up coming together to dialogue, with art as the connecting point. Go figure.

Voici un concept de passage piéton éclairé proposé par des designer Russe, le “Air Crosswalk”. Un genre d’éclairage suspendu et futuriste pour nos cher passages piéton(qui n’ont pas vraiment évolué en 50 ans, faut bien le reconnaitre… enfin en même temps je ne sais pas si ça existait il y a 50 ans j’étais pas là …)

Personnellement j’imaginerais bien juste de rayon de lumière projeté au sol, sans aucun marquage ! De la sorte on pourra facilement le déplacer!

Bref voici le concept en photo :

Le 1er Air  Crosswalk devrais être posés dans un ville Russe l’année prochaine !

Plus d’infos ici : http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/air-zebra/

Blu is an Argentinian graf artist. The stop motion filming of his Berlin installation above features the song Blazin’ by Ghislain Poirier.

Below is the video of his most recent piece, MUTO that was filmed frame by frame from the sidewalk. Once the frame was shot, the work was destroyed. A breathtaking, and quite frankly, unbelievable feat…

He also has a blog.

>J’étais au Hong Kong Museum of Art 香港藝術館 pour une exposition sur les cheveux (voir les photos qui suivent), je me suis posé la question, ‘Est-ce que un gouvernement peut planifier un quartier culturel pour une ville de presque sept millions d’habitants?’

Tout dépend de votre définition de l’art et de la culture. Hong Kong, malgré son succès comme centre financier et comme ancienne porte principale de la République populaire de Chine, est assez anémique culturellement selon certains critiques.



The vast landmass reclaimed from sea in Kowloon, what in the future would be the West Kowloon Cultural District, is still undergoing quasi public consultation. Many people asked if arts and culture can be “planned” or “engineered”. Hong Kong is quite eager to shake off the image as a cultural dessert, which has been depicted in various local and international media. If art and culture document human experience, a city of close to seven million should be overflowed with culture. After all, that’s similar in size to Québec, and the latter has plenty of water, physically and culturally! (Un)sustainable development, environment, economy, non-business interest, creativity, cultivation and toruism and internaitonal statue are just some of the issues on people’s lips. What would you do if you are the Hong Kong government bureaucrats running the show? Yes, they want the cake and have it too! It will interesting to come back five, and ten years down the road to see the changes.

Saint John, New Brunswick is a city with an interesting and rich history. In recent years, Saint John has been experiencing a bit of a boom, due to energy initiatives that are taking place and it’s interesting to see the city thriving and excited about its future. A recent book by Brenda Peters-McDermott, Urban Renewal Saint John: A City Transformed features photos that document the progression that the city experienced through urban renewal from the 1950s to the 1980s. Below are some photos from the book.

I was born and raised in Saint John, which has long been known as the industrial hub of New Brunswick, but Saint John is so much more than an industrial city. Looking at the unique history of the city, there’s so much that we have to offer. Canada’s oldest incorporated city, and the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, Saint John is located on the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. Saint John was discovered in 1604, and boasts one of Canada’s sixteen Martello Towers . It also boasts North America’s oldest city market, which has a ceiling designed similar to the hull of a ship. With numerous historic homes and remarkable architecture such as The Gothic Arches, wandering the streets of uptown Saint John is a treasure trove of aesthetic pleasures. Pictures of Saint John’s City Market and the Gothic Arches are below.

Below is a piece of a documentary by Hemmings House Pictures about the challenges of homelessness in the city. This documentary also discusses current issues of poverty surrounding some of the lower income project housing that was built during the urban development of the 1940s. Hemmings House Pictures is an award winning film and television production company based out of Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. They have done numerous documentaries and videos for local artists and concerts or festivals. Samples of more of their work are available online .

In 1877, the city had a devastating fire that tragically destroyed over 1612 structures including churches, banks, hotels and most public building. Making news worldwide, many residents were displaced but the community banded together and rebuilt most of what is now the uptown area, although many heritage buildings are still intact. Adam Mowery , a local musician has a song “the port city is burning.” In fact, the city boasts many local musicians and artists such as Hospital Grade , The Wooden Wives, Jessica Rhaye and so many others. The local art/music scene has so much reciprocity, love and so many people who believe in Saint John, are invested in making it a great place to live and recognize that a city is what you make of it, and they are doing everything to ensure that “Johners” can be proud to call the port city their home.

Saint John is also the birthplace of Stompin’ Tom Connors (musician) and Donald Sutherland (actor) among other celebrities.