a1one in Montreal

Since moving to Ontario from Vancouver last fall, the jermalism street art campaign has seen an extended hiatus. Honestly, I feel as though I said what I had to say on the walls of Vancouver, got it off my chest in the most therapeutic way imaginable. Publicly and anonymously, I passed the burden onto the viewer, to the people of Vancouver, and then I left it there. Street art literally saved my life, that's why i ink it to my skin. I do have a couple pots simmering on the stove, cooking up some fresh street art ideas, but to speak on a project before bringing it to fruition diminishes it substantially, as I've said before.

Since October, all of that same time and energy I put into owning Vancouver with words, has been spent searching out, exploring and documenting abandoned buildings in Ontario and Quebec. Hospitals, churches, schools, factories, hotels, houses, a massive greenhouse, a nazi P.O.W. camp and an insane asylum, just too name a few. Places that are long forgotten, silent and free of the hustle and bustle that once was. Sometimes left to vandals and thieves, or reclaimed by nature's wrath with water and mould. It is in these moments, in these places, that I am content. I am beyond passionate about this project, and ninja IX and I are happier than ever living life on the road, exploring. Please check out my ABANDONMENT ISSUES blog and read up on some of these amazing places.

That said, I had a hankering to put something up. With no inspiration flowing through me, i reached out yet again to my friend a1one in Tehran, Iran, and asked him to send me another package. a1one is the undisputed king of Middle East graffiti culture and has been a personal inspiration to me for years. His artwork is so very rich in culture and style, with his characters often beaming with bright colours and intricate line work based on ancient Middle Eastern pattern and motifs. His work has been political when it has needed to be and he has been one of the strongest voices emerging from Iran during the most recent uprising.

I should add that out of respect for the urban exploration community, I have vowed to change my ways and not get up inside abandoned buildings unless they are already established graffiti spots, so as not to cause any detriment to the site from an exploration perspective. I would ask other graffers and street artists to respect the clean abandoned spots as well, so that we may enjoy them. But with that said, I am not a judge or jury, just a friend with a request. This location under the freeway in the south of Montreal is a classic graf spot, and was the perfect place to add a splash of colour, ninja IX and I, a1one in Montreal.























This canvas was a gift that accompanied the package, it is a1one's depiction of a classic scene, ''jerm IX chugging a bottle of Jamaican Rum'. Framed by my father in law Daniel N, it hangs above our bed and glows in the dark.



This was not the first collaboration with a1one, and will surely not be the last either. I am constantly inspired by this man. Here are some of his pieces that I put up in Vancouver as well as the tattoos that he designed for me.













Up next, a1one in Toronto. Peace be with you brother.

The Blue Light Project

"The Blue Light Project..." that's what he said to me when I asked what it was called. Perplexed and intrigued, I responded to his original question vehemently. Yes, of course I would help design the cover for the American publisher, Soft Skull, it would be an honour. And I was still pondering it months later as we wandered the alleys of Main Street, looking for the spot, Timo and I. A brush dipping in and out of a yoghurt container full of cellulose paste delivered the words to the city. Words that my hands had already stencilled to paper but my mind had been unable to get over-THE BLUE LIGHT PROJECT. The Station Street alley, where the cascading confession once stood, and the roof of the Dominion Building too, we pasted up those intriguing words-THE BLUE LIGHT PROJECT.



Timothy Taylor is becoming widely identified as one of Canada's elite authors. His first novel, the Giller Prize nominated 'Stanley Park' is a delicious literary feast that had readers eagerly awaiting seconds, and thirds. On March 1st, 2011, the wait is over. After just flipping the last page of the advance galley, for the second time, I can assure you that it fully satiates. I couldn't put it down, twice. A disgraced journalist, an Olympic gold medallist, a street artist named Rabbit, and a three day hostage crisis, oh and...THE BLUE LIGHT PROJECT.

Beyer, a friend of Rabbit, infamous for his FAITH WALL image, sent me these pictures. The image: A screaming punk, and the words, FAITH WALL. Millions of these stickers are up across the world in The Blue Light Project. But as of late Beyer has been sending images my way. All across Canada, hundreds and hundreds adorn mail crates travelling between Post Offices country-wide. Thousands of these stickers have gone up already from Vancouver to Montreal. Its begun to show up in Seattle and California, Michigan, and even appears to have just crossed the pond. The large poster image was pasted up by associates of Beyer, on Main St. in Vancouver. The stickers were shot all across Canada.















The original cover concept was a traditional jermalism style scroll, up in the street...













The advance galley...



The Canadian cover...



Working alongside Jason Snyder from Soft Skull was a pleasure, and when he proposed using the cascading confession in the manner in which he did, I was humbled. My deepest secret, that I held onto for 29 years before exposing anonymously on the streets of Vancouver, would now sit prominently on the shelves of book stores across America, representing an author that I admire and respect, a friend that I adore, and a novel that I love.







The book is already garnering some high praise...

"The Blue Light Project slows down today's accelerated world in order to sympathetically probe the constraints of celebrity, public art, and biopolitics in the context of contemporary terrorism. At the core of this suspenseful novel is a hostage crisis that is terrifyingly real. Taylor forces us to consider probabilities. What might happen at the confluence of fear, love, and hope?
Just as Taylor's first novel Stanley Park concludes with one of the most memorable meals in contemporary literature, the final illumination in The Blue Light Project will haunt readers for decades to come. Writing at times with the incisive vision of Margaret Atwood, the broken lyricism of Michael Ondaatje, the social realism of Rohinton Mistry, and the brutal honesty of Douglas Coupland, Timothy Taylor now firmly ranks among Canada's finest authors. The Blue Light Project is an important book. Pay attention."

-Laura Moss

The Blue Light Project hits bookstores on March 1st, 2011.

Go get it.

The FAITH WALL stickers are hitting cities everywhere.

Keep your eyes open.

Thanks for everything Timo, your kindness and support has been a true blessing. Respect.

Abandonment Issues: Chemong Farmhouse - 1818 Lee Cemetery

A few posts back, we found our protagonist exploring an abandoned hospital in Peterborough, Ontario. While exploring Peterborough, jerm found a few other interesting abandonment's, including a small elementary school (which we will delve into in a future post), and the Chemong Farmhouse - 1818 Lee Cemetery.





The two car garage and workshop attached to the back of the house are wide open. The weight of the snow resting atop the garage door has ripped it from it's track and it hangs precariously.







On the other side of the climbing hole, darkness enveloped. Around the corner, the click of a flashlight revealed a kitchen. The table sits awkwardly in the middle of the room. Tea towels and cleaning supplies stand out amongst the debris. A little further in, the light from the climbing hole had faded to nothing. A car seat, a Sobeys shopping cart and a kids plastic pool furnish the living room. In the darkness of these dilapidated abandonments, delicate steps are taken, or lives can be lost. The heartbeat races, adrenaline pumps. Wonder and excitement overcome, and you feel like a kid again. The house is quite small, he realized as he approached the front door. Ignoring the staircase that would lead him upstairs, he instinctively turned the lock on the front door, and reached for the doorknob. It opened, filling the front of the house with natural light and filling his ears with a stinging creaking noise. Darkness and unknown hazards tend to make a person a tad high strung, but the natural light calmed him down. It also revealed what appeared to be solid floors and no real hazards.

He wandered that first floor again, re-taking all of the pictures he had just painstakingly taken with a flash in the blackness.











Then he headed upstairs. A pink bathroom, clean and shiny. Two bedrooms, walls torn apart. 'THE STONERS Closet' is written on a closet door. Inside is a bench, an ashtray, a candle, and a couple of roaches and beer cans. He laughed when he opened that door. The attic is open but not worthy of note.













He rested his flashlight atop a light fixture, creating the illusion of electricity. He also illuminated a light bulb with his flashlight, attempting to give the illusion in the photo that the light bulb itself is creating the light. Basically, he's starting to learn to use and play with his camera in new ways, instead of pointing and shooting at street art. And he's having the time of his life.





A dip into the basement was next. Creepy, as is always the case in farmhouse basements.





A paved pathway now slices through the property, a popular hiking trail. On the other side of this pathway, on the southern edge of the property, near tiny fragments of what was once a fence, stands this cross...



The house sits empty, with it's cross. Over time, the farmland has morphed into a consumer capitalist carbon copy of every other neighborhood in North America. Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and several other box-stores have encroached. A failing mall was also built adjacent, a mall doing so poorly that we may all be exploring it soon.
Today, amongst the hustle and bustle of shopaholics and a steady stream of traffic, this house sits empty, with it's cross.

In our next post, we will find ourselves climbing and crawling in an abandoned file factory along the shores of the Ganaraska River in Port Hope. Followed by a trip to Hamilton, and then a trip to Vancouver, and then a trip to Ottawa, stay tuned my friends.

***EDIT***

"The property was settled in 1820 by the Lee family and the graves are of John and his son Thomas. I believe there is another grave along that path that is marked with a small glass brick set atop a slightly larger stone marker. I believe it is marked Smithson and may be a childs grave. Most of this is from memory as i can no longer access the info i once had on it."

-Otonabee (UER member)

click here to check out all of jerm & ninja IX's ABANDONMENT ISSUES