Bike lanes have recently become a contentious political issue across Ontario, but one local artist is hoping to spread positivity by jazzing up the city’s cycling infrastructure.
Street artist Martin Reis, who hilariously refereed downtown traffic in August 2023, has been decorating bike lane posts with colourful yarn — also known as “yarn bombing.”
Recognized around the world as a form of graffiti, the practice involves temporarily covering objects with knitted, crocheted or wrapped yarn without damaging the structure itself.
So far, Reis has transformed four bike posts into figures that now resemble lollipops. All of the posts are decorated with flower tops, which are made by his partner Wendy.
Three installations can be found near 297 Harbord Street while another is located at Queen Street West and Crawford Street.
“There wasn’t much street art available here, so I thought I’d introduce that to the Toronto landscape,” he said. “I noticed that bike lane posts looked dreary and plain, so it worked really well as a place where I could make this idea happen.”
Before last summer, Reis had never crocheted before.
But that’s changed. The multi-media artist has since spent many hours working on the craft. He was even crocheting when TorontoToday gave him a call.
“It’s highly addictive — you can’t stop,” he laughed. “I find it very calming and I’m having a lot of fun with it.”
To prepare for his work on the bike posts, Reis crochets different types of wool and colours of yarn into long strings. Then, he uses velcro to keep the material in place as it gets wrapped around the posts.
“If it’s thick yarn, I can cover something in about three hours,” he explained. “But if it’s really thin yarn, then it can take up to 20 hours like the one on Queen. I thought I was never going to finish that one. But it looks nice because it’s really detailed.”
Bike lanes have been a headline issue in recent days as Premier Doug Ford intends to block the installation of new ones while proposing to rip up existing lanes — citing traffic congestion as a major concern.
Reis, an avid year-round cyclist, didn’t mince words addressing Ford’s plan.
“I’m happy to say this project is my response to Doug Ford attacking bike lanes,” he said. “You’re making the city better by riding a bike. Pitting people against each other is not the way to go forward in a city where we all need to share and get along.”
“I’m always happy to put out positive vibes as opposed to negative ones — that’s what my street art is about,” he added. “All my friends and co-workers ride bikes, so I’m going to put the love back in.”
An active teacher and local arts manager, Reis has been involved in countless projects throughout his career.
But his new passion for yarn bombing ranks higher than most.
“This is certainly right up there in the top five projects I’ve done, given how well it’s been received,” he said. “I’ve gotten lots of great feedback online as well. It’s one of my favourite things, and in many respects, one of the easiest things to do.”