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Grand Gestures
Drunken conversations, overheard phone calls, rambling surreal moments.
Walking along Queen Street West you may notice new heritage plaques. But for some reason these plaques seem to commemorate nothing of importance.
. . . . 
And you’d be forgiven for thinking the City went mad one day and allowed some diligent - but perhaps chronic - heritage committee members to run wild. The same company that makes the “legitimate” ones makes these plaques.
So what’s going on here?
“Reflecting on the rapid obsolescence of video technology, Grand Gestures, memorializes and commemorates the vain attempts we make at preserving our memories.”
Gallery TPW and Trinity Square Video (TSV) are co-presenting Grand Gestures, an exhibition in three parts by the 640 480 Video Collective.
According to the project’s creators people make ‘home movies’ in order to create permanent reminders of moments they might otherwise forget. “More often than not, it is the video itself that replaces the actual memories, and it is only through this medium that moments can be (re)experienced at all.”
The most visible aspect of the project is the ten ‘memorial’ style plaques interspersed along Queen West between TSV and TPW. Each bronze plaque contains a partial transcription of a personal video that has been created on Queen Street, which 640 480 found on youtube.com. “By memorializing these banal and inconsequential videos with such markers of public remembrance, 640 480 draws our attention to the fleeting nature of video.”
. . . .
TSV’s Claire Eckert said the business owners were pretty willing allow the plaques to go up. How long they stay up is uncertain. “That’s something were still discussing.”
Gauging the public reaction to the plaques has been difficult because there is no direct line of feedback, but she said media interest has been positive.
The project ends on Oct 13 and there will be a panel discussion at TSV by the artists on the work
Plaque locations:
MOCCA - 952 Queen St. West
Between Givins St. and Shaw St. on the North side of Queen St. West
The curbside at South West corner of Trinity Bellwoods Park
At the end of Massey St. on the North side of Queen St. West
Concrete retaining wall at the South East corner of Trinity Bellwoods Park
At the corner of Queen St. West and Gorevale Ave.
The Gypsy Co-op - 815 Queen St. West
Queen St. West between Claremont St. and Manning Ave.
Hero Burger - 650 1/2 Queen St. West
Queen St. West between Euclid Ave. and Palmerston Ave.
The Reverb - 651 Queen St. West
Queen St. West and Bathurst St.
Westside Tobacco - 578 Queen St. West
Queen St. West just East of Bathurst St.
Digitimes - 550 Queen St. West
Queen St. West between Bathurst St. and Ryerson Ave.
Second Cup - 535 Queen St. West
Queen St. West between Augusta Ave. and Vanauley St.
King Shawarma - 392 Queen St. West
Just west of Spadina Ave.