A Toronto-based artist is making a street corner in the city’s west end more vibrant with an art installation that's also helping deter vandalism.
Worked into a chain-link fence, artist and writer Shari Kasman has assembled a brightly coloured display at the corner of Dufferin Street and Geary Avenue utilizing a construction material typically used for surveying.
The piece titled “Zigs and Zags” is roughly 75 feet long by six feet high and was part of the Geary Art Crawl held in September. It was originally set to be on display until the end of October.
The owner of the property — which includes an auto garage — knew the piece was being installed but was out of town for the art crawl. Upon seeing it, he told Kasman her work could stay indefinitely.
“He was just so delighted,” Kasman told TorontoToday.
The Toronto native added that before the art piece was installed, the property owner had wooden boards behind the fence, which were constantly getting tagged with graffiti, resulting in him being hit with fines from the city.
“He loves the colour and the design and also sees it as a benefit in deterring graffiti artists from spray painting his property,” Kasman said.
She said her art installation also gives some much needed vibrancy to a city she feels can appear bland at times, especially in the winter months when the slush and snow take over.
“I think it's a great city in a lot of ways, but I do think it lacks colour,” she explained. “There's a lot of grey and there's a lot of brown.”
Her efforts to spruce up Toronto are being appreciated by those who stumble upon her piece, including a man who told her it reminded him of the colours he missed from his home country.
“[He felt] it was a little disappointing coming to Toronto with the lack of colour, but this reminded him of how colourful it is back home and how nice it is to have colour around,” Kasman said.
The artist began repurposing construction material to “beautify” chain-link fences in 2015, starting off as small guerilla-style installations — first in Toronto then in Brooklyn, New York.
She was given the opportunity to do a larger piece in 2018 as part of the Dundas West Fest, where she set up a display along temporary fencing at the corner of St. Clarens Avenue and Dundas Street West.
In addition to the fence improvement project, Kasman had undertaken several other artistic endeavours over the years, including placing satirical TTC route replacement signs on bus stops.
Kasman is also open to adding her flair to more fences in Toronto.
“If anyone is interested, I'm always happy to add more colour to the city.”
