Toronto+Vancouver City of Labyrinths Project

Following creating the labyrinth in the wading pool in Christie Pits Park over the weekend, I found myself thinking about creating a more permanent labyrinth in the Kensington Market neighbourhood.

I have been painting labyrinths for most of the Pedestrian Sundays for the past 6 years, but they are on the streets. With wear and tear from vehicle traffic, they don’t have the permanence that a car-free location can have.

Wading pool still being top of mind, I biked to the Market, eyed the wading pool there and spent time dowsing around where the entrance might be. I did my usual step measuring by shoe length and oddly realized both the Bellevue Square and Christie Pits Park wading pools are about the same size.

The above photo is from earlier in the day, on Simcoe Day Holiday Monday. I was quite beat from the day before and spent triple the time simply chalking out the design.

Shortly before I began to paint, Dylan, from spacing popped by to check out the progress in person. He was rather amazed to learn the length in and then out of the labyrinth verges on walking a kilometer and a half. More Photos

This is the first labyrinth I had painted since before the TOStrike began near the end of June. The Christie Pits Park wading pool was renovated just in time to coincide with the beginning of the TOStrike.

A new splash pad feature has been installed by the private park contractor. It’s a red button thing that kids can press, and for anywhere from 30 seconds to three minutes in length, like magic, water gushes into the air from the four or five hidden water jets.

A new green metal designed water fountain also replaces the old school pebble design. It sorta matches the metallicness of the splash pad red button thing.

The above photo shows the labyrinth painting in progress from Saturday afternoon.

Elsewhere in the Park, the garbage was being removed from the ice rink. The rink had served as a temporary garbage drop-off and open air landfill. The Friends of Christie Pits Park had opposed the use of any part of the park as a temporary dump site. More Photos

I want to make you a labyrinth.

Okay.

What kind of design would you like incorporated in it?

I don’t know….hmmmm…let me think about it…
I have always liked chinese knotwork, how ’bout that?

Okay. It’ll do. Chinese knotwork labyrinth it is.

What’cha gonna call it?

How about “lab-karen-th”.

Okay.

More Photos