What started out as documentation proved to be a “Rashomon”-like experience for a sketching group in Canada.
Lead Image: Members of Toronto Urban Sketchers line up to depict a scene
The Toronto Urban Sketchers group decided to focus on a project this past year, and the theme of disappearing buildings came up as a possible angle. “Buildings disappear and people get upset about it,” explains Marie-Judith Jean Louis, the founder of the group. “We find the buildings a number of ways — sometimes from articles in local newspapers, or signs placed in front of buildings set for demolition. Sometimes there is a feud, and groups are trying to stop developers from demolishing a building and putting up condos. Sometimes a building really should go, but it still needs to be remembered — it is part of the identity of that area of the city, even if not everyone is sad to see it go. We go around and look for them now.”
The artists have captured a floating restaurant called Captain John’s, a retail store named Honest Ed’s, and a row of heritage houses along Toronto’s Church Street. “We get stories,” says Jean Louis. “People pass by who know the building, and they stop and say, ‘They used to do this here,’ or, ‘We used to hold this here.’ It’s not just about the look of the building, but the story, what the building represents for the people in that neighborhood. It’s like keeping a visual memory of what the neighborhood looks like.”
Through these meet-ups, the artists of Toronto Urban Sketchers realized their work was doing something else: presenting alternative views of the same place. Where some saw commercialism, others saw cheer. Where some saw a boat, another saw a rusting hulk. Where some saw an at-risk building, another depicted a welcoming home.
“It’s not an exact duplication of every detail of the building,” says Jean Louis. “Each artist captures something about it, and different people see the building in different ways. It’s all about what they focus on. And together it makes a collaborative project.” In this way it is reminiscent of the classic 1950 Japanese film “Rashomon,” in which several characters present their differing truths about an event.
The Toronto group is eyeing a book on the subject, and exploring a gallery show on Toronto’s disappearing buildings. “I started this group almost two years ago to be able to learn more about the city, discover new places, collaborate with other likeminded people,” says Jean Louis. “But now we have finished the first part of this project, and we’re looking forward to showing the different ways artists can represent the same thing.”
