WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT

Toronto is a clean and beautiful city… that is littered with a few eyesores. Some of the most evident examples are the poorly maintained and abandoned 24 Hours newspaper boxes. Their once bright orange exteriors are now covered with street grime, graffiti, stickers and posters. This is more than a sign that Sun Media who owns these boxes does not care about its image but it is company that has little regard for the communities that they place them in. And we, the citizens of Toronto, are letting this happen.

Well no more Sun Media! Toronto is taking back our streets, one dirty box at a time. As of August 24th, 2011, Sun Media has 24 days to clean up all of their 24 Hour boxes. Two simple options have been given:

1) The removal of all the dirty, disgusting 24 Hour boxes from our streets.

or

2) Clean ‘em up! Scrub ‘em down! Hose ‘em off! Polish ‘em up! In short make them presentable again.

If by September 17th, Sun Media does not meet these two very simple requests, “The 24 Hour Guerilla Art Makeover Project” will be launched.

1) The citizens of Toronto have been asked to post a photo of one or more unkempt 24 Hours box with its exact location(s) to www.24HourBoxMakeover.tumblr.com

2) A call to artists, designers, craftsmen and creative souls who wish to participate in this project has been made. Artists and designers can email their design makeover ideas for one or more boxes to: 24hourmakeoverproject@gmail.com. Artists can paint them, stencil them, graffiti art them. Boxes can be covered in plaster and creatures can be made out of them. They can be Decoupage’d, Papier Maché’d, covered in fake flowers, cereal, buttons, fake gems, or perhaps fun fur. Designers can make a fashionable summer outfit for them or turn them into go-carts, mini bars, shelving units. They can plant flowers in them, or make a birdhouse out of them. Any idea is almost acceptable but the goal is to make the box better not worse.

3) By day 24, The 24 Hour Make-Over Project Crew will assign one or more boxes to each of the artists/designers signed up. On a day and time which will be kept secret, all participating artists/designers will hit the streets to transform these boxes into something of their own. Each creation and its process will be documented and posted on www.24HourBoxMakeover.tumblr.com.

It’s up to us to keep or streets beautiful…and interesting.

For more information regarding “The 24 Hour Guerilla Art Make-Over Project, www.24HourBoxMakeover.tumblr.com or www.HotorNotTdot.tumblr.com please contact Rolyn Chambers, Movement Founder at goldenrolyn@gmail.com or by calling 416-834-8164.

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www.24HourMakeover.tumblr.com and www.HotorNotTdot.tumblr.com are the creations of Rolyn Chambers, writer, artist and columnist for Toronto’s fab magazine