2017

                              How we Live in Cities at Big on Bloor Festival Over the weekend of July 22 – 23, the Bloor Street Business Improvement Area hosted a two day street festival of arts and culture from Dufferin Street to Lansdowne ave in Toronto.  Dyan Marie from “How we Live in Cities” coordinated a series of art and garden workshops that got the public involved in place making and garden creating at home by distributing “Spot gardens” which members of the public would plant in their yards.                                       Eric Anthony Charron brought BIG lights and Wind catchers to the festival and helped interested upcyclers create their own garden solar lamps out of reclaimed plastic bottles, and multi-coloured wind catchers from the off-cut pieces.  Bees and other pollinators are attracted to intense and deep colours of blue, green and purple.  By teaching how to create solar bottle bubbles for gardens and encouraging their placement in yards and gardens, they will act as targets to pollinator species that will be attracted […]

ART AND ECOLOGY WORKSHOPS FOR THINKING GARDENS How We Live In Cities at the BIG on Bloor Festival offers arts, culture and urban ecology workshops. The 3-hour-long relay projects provide hands-on opportunities to participate in interactive, multi-disciplinary events that explore ways to animate, enhance and improve the experience of living in cities – each encouraging garden-making.     How We Live In Cities is a feature event for the BIG on Bloor Festival of Arts and Culture, taking place from 1:00 PM- 7:00 PM on Saturday, July 22, and from 12:00 PM-6:00 PM on Sunday, July 23, 2017, at car-free Bloor Street between Lansdowne Ave and Dufferin Street, with up to 100,000 people attending. How We Live In Cities Hub is located just West of Dufferin Ave. on the South side of Bloor Street, in front of the Tennis Courts.     Eric Anthony Charron Garden Sculpture: BIG Lights and Wind Works Worshop Hours: 12:45 – 3:45 on Saturday July 22, 2017 (How We Live In Cities Booth at Bloor and Dufferin Streets)  Eric will provide instruction and assist with the building and installation of hanging solar lights and wind catchers, constructed from recycled materials. Eric’s regenerative Sun Lights demonstrate the use of recycled plastic water bottles made luminescent by solar LED technology. This workshop will feature […]

A special video of scenes from the 2017 AZ Awards Gala held at Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto has been loaded online, courtesy of Azure Magazine. Please follow the link to find the video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XW1YW4ibiU&t=3s

Azure magazine has published a special behind-the-scenes article featuring the creative partners that helped to make the AZ Awards Gala a massive success.  Chandeliers made from upcycled plastic bottles, an elaborate paper installation and sleek steel trophies designed by Philippe Malouin upped the wow factor at the 2017 AZ Awards Gala on June 23. Click the link to the full article: http://www.azuremagazine.com/article/behind-scenes-look-2017-az-awards-gala/ Photo courtesy of Mauricio Calero.   The chandeliers, by Eric Charron Toronto architect Eric Charron reworks recycled plastic bottles into striking light fixtures, furniture and artworks. Since 2012, he has successfully diverted over 2000 plastic bottles from landfill to live-on in new, useful art forms. After discovering his works at a local art exhibition (Place and Placement at Galleria Mall), Azure asked Charron to create custom chandeliers for the 2017 gala. He came back with seven sculptural fixtures – four that measured nearly a metre in diameter and three smaller iterations – made from bottles, wire armature and reused packing foam, and lit with LED bulbs. The lights were suspended over party-goers in the Brick Works’ CRH Gallery.

This past Friday, June 24th, 2017 marked upcycledXD’s first collaboration with Azure Magazine for their annual awards gala held at Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto.  Seven stunning, brightly lit chandeliers were prominently hung from the historic industrial kiln building’s trusses over the cocktail and lounge reception area. The event was attended by local and international stars from the worlds of architecture and design.  Seventy projects, in 20 different categories were handed out in a ceremony led by Canadian television veteran Denise Donlon. The guest of honour, renowned Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas, kicked things off with a special address.                                                     This was upcycledXD’s first collaboration for an awards gala as well as premiere of 4 original chandeliers that were hung along the perimeter of the lounge.  They are build 3 feet in diameter of clear, re-purposed plastic bottles, wire armature and re-used packing foam lit with LED bulbs.                                                               […]

On May 26, 2017  Eric from upcycledXD was interviewed by Sarah Van Exan, Alena Grunwald and Emma Rogers representing Ontario’s Sustainability CoLab, an organization charged to find ways of building a sustainable, cyclical economy. The focus of the discussion was towards a challenge posted to the OpenIDEO  website – The Circular Design Challenge, How might we get products to people without generating plastic waste?  The intriguing points from the discussion were posted to the OpenIDEO site on June 7, 2017.  Please see the link below for the full article. https://challenges.openideo.com/challenge/circular-design/research/how-a-garbage-strike-drove-an-architect-to-reimagine-plastic-and-provoke-change-through-art-and-design Sustainability CoLAB: http://sustainabilitycolab.org/

Eric Charron is mentioned in the June 8-15 edition of NOW Magazine Toronto for his participation in the Place and Placement Exhibition.  He is participating in a workshop on Saturday, June 17 to demonstrate the building and design of Sun light garden lamps. See the article below or follow the link: https://nowtoronto.com/news/beyond-galleria-mall/ Civic Studies  – Host of Place and Placement: http://civicstudies.ca/ Upcoming event at BIG on Bloor, July 22-23, 2017  featuring How we Live in Cities event hub: http://bigonbloorfestival.com/about/HowWeLiveInCities/      

Published May 29th, the Toronto Star featured a story about the Re-imagine Galleria’s exhibition Place and Placement. Organized by Dyan Marie and Darren Leu of urban arts group “How we live in cities”, the article highlights provocative ideas of creating small spot gardens to connect existing neighborhood parks and residential gardens to the future redevelopment of the Galleria Mall site at Dufferin and Dupont Street in Toronto.  The exhibit offers large scale artwork by David Acheson, smaller sculptures by Ed Burtynsky and John Dickson among others, to workshops that encourage locals to produce their own spot gardens and seed bombs and hope that the idea thrives and spreads throughout the area both before and after the new community at the mall site emerges. Follow the link to read the full article at: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2017/05/29/new-art-show-at-galleria-mall-captures-an-anxious-moment-as-development-looms.html

The opening night of the Place and Placement Exhibit at the Reimagine Galleria, in the Galleria Mall in Toronto took place on Thursday, May 18th, 2017.  Following a blustery windstorm early in the evening, the skies cleared for a well-attended gathering of artists, friends, family, local residents and even the Ward 18 Toronto city councillor, Ana Bailao. The evening included introductions of the artist’s work, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, music and a festive atmosphere.  Many thanks to Dyan Marie, the exhibit coordinator that brought the show together and coordinated the details and to all the artists involved in this exhibit.   How we live in Cities Presents:  Place and Placement  May 18 – July 15, 2017 Featured Exhibits West Room: Presence    by David Acheson Middle Gallery: Way Finding    by Catherine Beaudette, Edward Burtynsky, Eldon Garnet, Darren Leu, Heather Nicol, John Dickson, Noel Harding, Time and Desire, Reinhard Reitzenstein East Room: Earth Room Worm Hole     by Natalia Bakaeva and Mark Francis Outside / Overhead: Sun Lights    by Eric Anthony Charron Monitor:  Eden Archive   by Dyan Marie Work Room: Spot Gardens     by Botanicus Art Ensemble, Toronto Seed Library, Tool Exchange and HWLIC  

Place and Placement Exhibition On May 18th, 2017, upcycledXD will be participating in the Place and Placement Exhibition at the Reimagine Galleria located in the Galleria Mall in Toronto, at Dufferin and Dupont Streets.  The Exhibition will feature art works that will inspire and encourage a new series of art and garden corridors (spot gardens) that intend to connect local parks and recreation spaces, emanating from the upcoming re-development of the Galleria Mall site and Wallace-Emerson Community Centre/ Park. Works by notable artists will be featured including David Acheson, Catherine Beaudette, Edward Burtynsky, Eldon Garnet, Darren Leu, Heather Nicol, John Dickson, Noel Harding, Reinhard Reitzenstein, Time and Desire, Interspacial, Dyan Marie and Eric Charron (upcycledXD).  Eric will be installing a series of “Sun Lights” – a variation of the Blue Bottle Bubble series of reclaimed plastic bottle chandeliers that will be solar powered above the gallery and mall entrance. Please follow the link to the event website for full descriptions of the works and biographies of the artists taking part.  Hope to see you there, and stay posted for photos of the opening event! http://civicstudies.ca/place-and-placement/ ______________________________ How We Live In Cities PLACE & PLACEMENT Exhibition, workshops and discussions towards an […]