The Poster Board
Express yourself! Take this chance to rant, question, praise, comment on or complain about not going anywhere any way. To have a comment added to The Poster Board, simply email Julia.
Andrew - April 3, 2008
I really dig your not going anywhere any way project. Very nice indeed.
Jennifer - March 8, 2007
I also really enjoyed your "not going anywhere anyway" project. I'm lucky enough to have my Grandmother alive still and I just adore her. So I really loved your tribute to her.
Al - March 15, 2006
I think it's great! I live in the UK and stumbled across your site today by
accident and think it's a superb project. As a designer I think it's great
visually, simplicity gives the strongest impact I reckon and I love the
extracts from your gran's journal. I have a real thing about other people's
handwriting.
Anything that makes others stop and just think about something other than
their daily routine can only be a good thing. Keep up the good work.
Marty - February 22, 2006
Now my interests have never really been centered around art projects,
as I never did very well in the subject at school, and as a result I haven't
had much exposure to the creative side of other people's minds, but I always
wanted to tell you that I thought your postering project was probibly the
coolest and most creative thing I ever saw when I went to check out your
website for the first time back in like, September or something. I always
just sorta ignored 'the arts' in general all throughout high school, and
even during my first years of University my focus was all math and computer
related. In hindsight that was a really dumb thing to do; I wish I had
taken an interest in it much earlier! But anyways, the point is I had never
really seen art before that wasn't a painting or a sculpture of some kind,
and I thought your stuff was very inspiring: it was good, and it was art,
and the best part was that I could see myself coming up with an idea like
that and dedicating a few months effort to realizing it.
So ya! Um, I feel as if I should thank you for that. So I will!
Uri - January 14, 2006
Hi, yes I was there and stuck the spoon in the pole, I also signed it so it became a valuable art commodity perhaps it was sold on ebay!
Peace and Love Uri
Julia's note:click here to view the photo in question
Barbara - December 14, 2005
I looked at your bio and from there went to your website and read your grandmother's diary. I was touched by what seems her daily enjoyment of life's simple things. If only it were true that our favourite people really weren't going anywhere, that we could hold onto them, keep them always near. I had very sweet grandparents on my mother's side, and I miss them still, though it has been a long time since they passed away.
Chris - August 29, 2005
I just looked at your website - cool stuff. I was kind of hoping for more paintings though. I especially liked not going anywhere any way. I think so-called public art, like posters and such, is where it's at. It was fun to read some of the people's reactions to it.
Owen - August 14, 2005
I looked up your "not going anywhere any way" exhibit first thing this morning. I have to say that it put a smile on my face! I think that what you did is really special, both as a tribute to your grandmother and as a community project. It seems that you touched quite a few people.
Julia - July 29, 2005
I'm not sure the answer to your question, Stacey. I'll have to ask the Driveway Man the next time I'm in town.
There's not much postering happening in that part of Markham - just garage sale and lost cat posters, mostly. And AMB driving school. They almost had more posters up than I did! (hard to do…)
For any curious bystanders: if you are wondering what the RANK stencils look like, there's an image of one in Week 13.
take care, Julia
Stacey - July 29, 2005
Does the lady with the razor blade remove all the posters on Joseph Street or just yours? Weird!
Becky - June 28, 2005
Tattered pieces of posters lying amongst the grass, like wayword memories…I picture them floating lazily down like the calming memories of happy childhood days that flit down from the nether regions of my mind to fall quietly to my lips as a smile…
Julie the images are great, layers of meaning and posters! I think my favourites are the torn and disjointed ones speaking of our fragile memories and the gaps that creep in…a visually stunning reference to the whole premise of your project.
Julia - June 26, 2005
Kevin, I've seen those 'Rank' stencils when I've been riding on the YRT on my way to Markham and I've been facinated by them as well. It's an incredibly compelling image, that man's face…
To answer Stacey's question (posted on May 19), I just asked my Mom to find out the story behind Jack, who is mentioned in the journal almost every Sunday. He used to live in the same farming community as my Grandpa & Grandma and he moved to Markham after he sold his farm, just like my Grandparents did. By the time this diary was written, neither my Grandpa or Grandma drove, so Jack gave them a ride to Zion United Church in Cedar Grove every Sunday.
I suppose that all these names are potential characters for people who don't know the general history behind my grandparents' lives, only they aren't fleshed out for the reader. I think I'm mentioned twice in these three months, and only once by name…
Dog Walker - June 21, 2005
Excellent work Julia! You get a gold star next to your name = ) I'm really glad to see spontaneous art cropping up in Markham.
It helps add some thought to the place.
Kevin - June 20, 2005
Hey what's up - I'm some local bozo, I've lived in Markham for… 13 years now, I'm twenty five years old, I study Psychology @ York.
Your art project thing is wicked tasty! Good for you for adding something interesting to this bland homogenized suburb! It's always good to see this kind of thing around town…
Anywho - I checked out the site, read some/alot of journal entries… and BOY! Do your grandparents sound LAME!! I mean, no disrespect or nuthin' - but I seriously hope, that when I retire, I'm not nearly as dull as your granny and grandpa!
It's also an interesting primary account from the lives of retirees. Good gerontology stuff! And a great art concept! (but ya… boring lives! cleaning drawers, holy shit!)
Speaking of art projects around Markham… does anyone know of those black and white stencils of that guy, and it says "RANK" above it ? What's up with those? They're wicked stencils = )
And oh, did anyone here go to MDHS a few years ago? Do you remember big chaulk rantings drawn on the concrete pathway beside the ravine?
Kevin
Dale - June 13, 2005
What an absolutely interesting tribute & project.. I admire your creativity.
Karen - June 10, 2005
I just visited your site again…this time a little more closely. Very interesting! Photographs of the posters' remains were great (esp. those found in the grass).
Julie - May 30, 2005
Bonjour!
C'est genial! Je voulais t'envoyer un petit email rapide pour te dire que Chris et moi avons adore decouvrir ton nouveau projet. Je veux retourner encore sur ton site et puis je veux le relire une deuxieme fois attentivement. C'est vraiment un concept hors de l'ordinaire.
SUPER!
A bientot
JulieXXX
Charlene - May 28, 2005
hi julia,
i just wanted to say i've just seen your website and i think its great. i was moved to tears. i guess mainly because i am (still) wondering what to do with myself here in canada. and i cant help but seeing life as a series of endless journal entries. its the same problem i had while in the UK, i think. how much importance do we give our lives and the decisions we make, if we are just left with a few journal entries of what we did. i dont mean this in a melancholic/depressed way, just a kind of basic wondering way. primarily i think, it is important that we touch the lives of other people and now the lives of your grandparents has touched me and i never knew them. and they've touched you and you've touched me, so in that way all our lives are connected and we should never feel that our lives have no meaning. does this make any sense?? and heres to you for getting out there and doing something really amazing with you art!! this is really cool, love char
Anne - May 28, 2005
Dear Julia,
I read your interesting website. I agree that people are certainly trying to preserve their past and feel a connection with their history. I'm not sure that it's because they think they can live forever by doing this, but maybe that they can feel grounded and have a sense of their own identity and who they are. I know that it's become a great cliche, but "the world is changing so fast that people need to feel connected."
When I was a teenager I had a tweed straight skirt that I used to wear. It had been my mother's in the 1940's. The origin of the skirt was that it had been made from a pair of suit pants that my father had before he went overseas. What happened in those war days was that women would take their husband's suits to the tailor's and get the jacket cut down to fit them, and the pants made into a skirt that they could wear. Things like that would never happen nowadays in our throwaway society. Nowadays when stuff is a year out of date it just gets tossed. When people try to preserve their past I think they are protesting against the throwaway society that assumes that change is always better than the status quo. Of course I'm sure that the retailers have a lot to do with it too.
Just some thoughts I had to add to your project.
Love, from Hilary's mom.
Ann - May 25, 2005
Hi Julia:
I was totally engrossed by your Grandmother's diary…a life lived by existing day by calm day, with names flitting up from nowhere, arms broken, daughters dying while she washes and cleans drawers. What a Thoreau life: "As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler, solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness."
Thank you for opening eyes, an excellent project. Ann
Sarah - May 24, 2005
hi julia, i'm a student at franklin st. p. s. and i saw your ( or your grandparents) journal entries. i think it's really cool, and i was sooooo disapointed when people teared off the little tabs off your paper. but i eventually got your website. i never saw you put up your entries, but anyways, i just wanted to tell you that your journal entries are very cool and interesting. have a nice day!!!
Nik - May 23, 2005
Although I think your art project/experiment is very interesting I would also like to bring up an aspect that you may not have thought of. My grandparents live in the same neighborhood as your project is being run in, and this causes some problems that you may not have been aware of. There are many children and youth in the area who do not respect your art, and quite frankly make a mess of your posters. My grandmother's lawn is often littered with the posters as they get ripped off the poles and discarded on the street for the wind to takewhere it will. This, as I'm sure you can see, causes a lot of mess to be cleaned up. Perhaps the next project you choose to embark on will be one that doesn't cause the general population of the area more cleanup than is required, and does not cause more garbage (not the posters themselves, but their ripped remnants) in the beautiful neighborhood that you remember so fondly.
James - May 22, 2005
nice web site ju-ju
Susan - May 20, 2005
I applaud you for keeping Mom and Dad's memory alive and challenging people to think about art in different terms. Mom would be very pleased!! She would have been so proud of you, Ryan and Chris with your creative talents and art education. It is what she would have pursued, if she had lived in a different time and situation.
Sean - May 19, 2005
i dunno somtin about the entries just pulled me in, so blunt, so little words, but so creative,
i dunno i enjoy them quite a bit
Stacey - May 19, 2005
Wow!!!!
I think it's awesome!
I can't believe that the most negative comment you got came from a teacher. These are the people that are supposed to be helping our future generations broaden their minds and develop a thirst for learning a knowledge. Someone should spit red licorice on her!!!
Like you said, mundane stuff, but I think it's fascinating. One question though, who is this Jack person that your grandma kept going to church with?
And what's with those goofy kids calling you a freak? They are probaby big conformists.
I can't wait for next week, I'm putting you on my favourites list.
S
Milka - May 19, 2005
hi julia,
hey, i saw your web, and i really like your effort, in a sense, those little entries from your granny are so nice, and so like short short stories -- you know what i mean -- they are like the stories of their own, one does not need a bunch of sentences to describe one afternoon, or life, in that instance… i am also impressed with her social life, man, it is richer than mine, at least in this period of time, or i just liking to believe that…
anyway, keep up with the work -- it has the potential
i still like to call you a little rascal, just because i like the fact of disturbing public places/spaces…
really proud of your work! -- it is sooou melancholic, but in a very positive way…
light a candle for both of them, on my behalf -- i am sooouuu ___ have no expression, cuz of the englishthefuckingsecondlanguagething ___ gooooodddddddddd, it is amazing…
tschmrljy (try to pronounce that one)
Janine - May 18, 2005
Hi Julia,
I was so pleased today to see the web site information attached to the posting. My daughter and I have been reading your posts since the first week and have really enjoyed them. We use it as an excuse to take a long leisurely afternoon stroll. We have really had fun discussing who wrote these, what house they may have lived in and why these signs were posted. My theory was that it was the journal of someone's grandmother and that this was how they spent the last few weeks of their life before they died unexpectedly. I thought that the purpose was to show the beauty to be found in the simplicity of our daily lives--especially as a senior and that this was a memorium to a grandmother. The dates of these journal entries struck me since my mother died in May 1986 and those would have been the last few weeks of her life. My daughter who is almost four years old was a bit sad at the thought that this lady we are reading about died and somehow got the idea that there was a cat involved and she keeps telling me that she is sure the cat didn't die!
I think this is a wonderful project that you have done. I wonder if many other people have been reading these each week.
Kathryn - May 18, 2005
julia,
you made me tear when i read about your project.
my grandparents are two of the kindest people i've ever met as well.
your website looks great!