A blog about the 16th International AIDS Conference, Toronto, Canada, August 13-18, 2006.
photo by David Topping
When I walked past General Idea's AIDS sculpture on Saturday, I wondered if Torontonians would have the guts to graffiti it. Some of the messages from previous showings remained, but not many.
For the past few days I've been wondering, would the Toronto cops allow a passerby to deface the sculpture? What had the museum told them to do? What did General Idea want to happen? Would the sculpture continue to grow year after year, a global scrapbook of people's reactions to AIDS?
I walked past AIDS today, and noticed a few brave souls had scrawled their messages on the cube of letters. Some in fine black ink, others in thick bold letters. Front and center on the sculpture's base was a message to Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper: "Stephen Harper you shame us!!"
As I passed, I overheard a few people criticizing the additions. But AA Bronson, the sole survivor of General Idea told the Toronto Star that he's thrilled with the participation.
The artist who helped create the sculpture isn't concerned at all that people are drawing on his work -- he is actually encouraging people to add their own message."It's a site for dialogue; it's intended to be written on. It's like a public blackboard," said AA Bronson, one of the Canadian artists who created the piece in 1989.
The comments written on the sculpture usually mirror the issues at the moment, but they are generally AIDS-related, Bronson said. This is the first time a message has been directed at a specific political figure, he said.
"There has never been something so pointed before. It's always been much more general," Bronson said.
Another message, written faintly in blue pen on the side of the sculpture, says "Mr. Harper where are you?" Other people wrote things like: "It can happen to you," "Use protection" and "I love you."
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