Catbread, Free Lebanon, Etc.

Jamie: 9th Sep 2006 - 20:43 GMT

why is it that authorities the world over seem to think that young children painting stupid pointless shit all over walls is somehow better than other people acting on their artistic urges?

Sirhcbre: 9th Sep 2006 - 20:48 GMT

What baffles me is why someone would draw a cat that is a piece of bread.

Jamie: 9th Sep 2006 - 21:24 GMT

the real question is, why wouldn't you want to draw a cat that was a piece of bread?

Jamie: 9th Sep 2006 - 22:01 GMT

and besides...

Jamie: 9th Sep 2006 - 22:07 GMT

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catbread

EvilGentleman: 9th Sep 2006 - 23:01 GMT

Actually, a lot of the "art" here is not done by children, but by adults. I actually recognize a few of the names here as people I know IRL. What keeps happening in this area are attempts by various groups to allow the poor and homeless to have their say, while desperately figuring out some way to "decorate" the abandoned block east of the old Forum.

The white board with coloured silhouettes seems to be a project sponsored by Lasalle College, a block to the east. Lasalle College is a well known design and graphical arts school, but I doubt any of their students were involved in this one, beyond painting the sihouettes. It looks more like the work of the dispossessed.

The other areas of board seem to be jointly sponsored by the city and the Native Friendship of Montreal, which looks after the large native poor and homeless population in the area.

Projects like these also tend to be open to any passers-by, so what you wind up with can be quite surprising, with aspiring artists painting alongside homeless people who have been released from mental institutions, native panhandlers, and passing office workers. I am sure that a number of children were probably passed paintbrushes as well.

All these "projects" are temporary, as it widely expected that Concordia University will purchase this block to build residences, if they can get the local community groups to back the construction of a new high-rise. Many of the area's residential tenants do not wish anything higher that a mid-rise to go up in the area.

EvilGentleman: 9th Sep 2006 - 23:07 GMT

Damn, I forgot to type the last word of "Mative Friendship Centre"

EvilGentleman: 9th Sep 2006 - 23:09 GMT

"Mative"? Fuck! Grrr! Dammit! I think I need nicotine.

Sirhcbre: 9th Sep 2006 - 23:30 GMT

Isn't St-Catherines Street a low to mid rise street only? I don't think a tower would be allowed.

EvilGentleman: 9th Sep 2006 - 23:41 GMT

Well, I know the community association in the Shaughnessy Village area (Ville Marie in S to Sherbrooke in N, Atwater in W to Guy in E) has been successfully blocking constuction of Concordia's new John Molson School of Business building on the SW corner of de Maisonneuve and Guy for quite a while now, because the proposed height of the building is a bit higher than the what currently exists in the area. The EVA building across the street is in a different zone of the Ville-Marie building. Apparently, Concordia should have built the EVA building on the JMSB site and built the business school building where the fine arts building currently sits. Then everything would have fit ok.

EvilGentleman: 9th Sep 2006 - 23:42 GMT

Urgh. "The EVA building across the street is in a ifferent zone of the Ville-Marie Borough."

zagg: 10th Sep 2006 - 03:37 GMT

Man, now I'm really hungry for some kittyloaf & peanut butter.

EvilGentleman: 11th Sep 2006 - 17:15 GMT

If I got a free Lebanon, where would I keep it?

EvilGentleman: 13th Sep 2006 - 15:09 GMT

I suppose I should put it in the fridge next to my discount turkey, or in the cupboard with the canned chile.

Caroline: 8th Oct 2006 - 23:05 GMT

EvilGent, how do you know so much about Concordia and Montreal?

EvilGentleman: 8th Oct 2006 - 23:32 GMT

I'm a political science major at Concordia who is currently taking a year off to take computer tech support training at Champlain College. I am also a former student of Dawson College.