Streets April 2013

Took a trip through the Griff the other week to check out some old haunts. With all the construction going on in the area I was curious to see what kind of activity there has been on the walls below Notre-Dame. And as it appears there is not much happening east of Guy, but I was able to flick a few shots here and there. At least five new condo complexes are going up in the area, the towering silhouettes of construction cranes have become familiar additions to the sky line looking out towards Five Roses. And as these new developments continue to go up, so to will the efforts of the building management, and in turn the borough offices, to remove any undesirable or non marketable individual or group from the area that may impede on the living conditions of the newly established occupant population. And so it goes.

Some of these efforts can already be seen with the fencing up of areas underneath the highway on/off rampsand the installation of new video surveillance cameras in ans around the construction sites. Wellington Tunnel is directly across the street from one of the development projects. Besides the continued pad locking of the gates to tunnels and the wielding of additional plates and bars to the gate area to impede the entrance into the tunnels, nothing has been done to keep anyone from the area. It is also out of sight, next to and below Notre-Dame street. There seemed to be a bit of smoldering smoke coming from out of the main tunnel so I did not go in. It was also pad locked. There was some guy squatting in one of the adjacent tunnels. I asked him what was going in the tunnel, if there was a fire burning in there. He didn't seem concerned, and said that he knew nothing of it. I told him to watch himself and be careful and went on my way.

 

The old switch house is still closed up too. I think there is someone squatting in that area too. I saw several others squatting under the area right across the street from the spot that was fenced up leaving me to question what criteria is used to determine what area is controlled over another. Anyway, not much there anymore except a dusty parking lot and a lot of fence. I used to live in the Griff a little before all of this development started, and although I can appreciate the need to develop older areas of the city, I guess I just miss my old Griffintown.Not many flicks of the area so I through in a few from elsewhere I grabbed recently. More to come.

Stay posted.

Daily Dose: Cope2 & Indie in town, TA, Stinky's, strung up teddy bears, and everything else in between

This daily dose thing is not as easy as it may appear. Especially when I walk 10K and flick a tonne of updates. But I'm trying to keep up as much as possible. So please bear with me. Odd side note right off the bat: I got this weird side photo thing with abandoned teddy bears and dolls. Yeah, weird, I know. But I find them wherever I go and they seemingly move around after people do stuff to them. Anyway, I've got as bunch of shots locked away somewhere and I'll eventually do a special post. Here's the recent addition to the teddy bear Golgotha that I've collected from the TA Factory. Someone strung them up too. Poor bastards. Here's a bunch of shots from the past week, and a couple from the last month or so.

I didn't do much trekking about this weekend but I was out a bit last week to follow up on a little gossip going around the town and to get that last end of the summer feel from the streets. Although Can You Rock was canceled, it looks like Senk, Sniper, Scien, Klor, along with Cope2 & Indie (who were in town) decided to grace the walls off of Cabot Street with a nice production to pay hommage to the spot. Solid production too, deep colors and the always fine lettering by some of Montreal's finest and company.

To be honest though, I didn't pass through looking for that wall, although is was really nice to have come across it. It was a precisely executed production and a nice collab. I was there to document some cross outs by Cope2 on a couple of local names. Whatever the issue, he felt it necessary to not just cross them out, but to make a  post of it on his blog on 12 Oz Prophet. You can check it here. He says that he's rocking on some Montreal toys. Interesting to say the least, and predictably the start to another beef that will escalate in the coming future. Whatever the beef, whatever the history, I hope  these gents work it out and no real bullshit comes out of it. But hey, I just document. So here's my shots of the cross out at the spot from last year.

I also got the chance to stop through the TA Wall and Factory area, and good ol' Stinky's. Noticed soime tunneling and rope ladders at the scene, heard soem activity inside, but didn't have the time to get all down and dirty. Soon. Really liked the collab by Five8, Dyer, and Quiz at the TA Wall too, positive creations going on there. I'll have more from St. Henri and TA soon too.

 

More Soon. Stay posted.

Meeting of Styles/Can You Rock !?!

 

Recently we all heard about the cancelation of the annual Can You Rock graffiti jam here in Montreal. Every year invitations go out to select and respected writers, both local and afar, to participate in what has been considered by many to be one of the premier graffiti jams in the city. I personally look forward to events like this (and Under Pressure) that bring the crews and community together, even if loosely, for a weekend of painting, chilling, and all hours partying. I meet new writers from all over and get to catch up with some of the locals I don't get to see that often. Even more, in recent years I've made closer ties with the organizers of these events, I volunteer, take pics, and help out where it's needed or where I can. So when Can You Rock didn't get off the ground this year, I felt it on a more personal level than I expected to. It also made me think about the importance of events like this not only to the local scene and its members, but to the image that Montreal has maintained as a pillar of the North American scene in general. This last statement might be a lofty one, but it's one I stand by. This city is arguably one of the most soaked and active around, has some heavy hitters and draws the attention of writers the world over.

I decided to dig into the vault to put together a MOS/CYR retrospective to fill the void of not having the event take place this year. It's not a comprehensive post, rather just some shots I never put up, and a few re-posted deservedly. Hopefully next year things will be more manageable and the team not too bogged down in other responsibilities. Remember, this is a volunteer run event and the organizers take a lot of their personal time to put these types of events on. So big ups to the crews, volunteers, and organizers over the years for putting on some great events and here's looking forward to next year's Can You rock being bigger and meaner than ever.

 

More soon. Stay posted.