Waldo was here City buildings and light posts become puzzle grid for street artist and his fans By: Jen Zoratti Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, May. 28, 2018 Last Modified: 9:29 AM CDT Tuesday, May. 29, 2018 Updates

Opinion

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This article was published 27/05/2018 (2406 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s a man about town. You might have seen him around — red-and-white striped shirt, coke-bottle glasses, tuque. You can find him smiling and waving in alleyways, under bridges, on walls and on light posts. Sometimes, he pops up in the Exchange District, other times, Osborne Village. You have to look for him, though. Otherwise, you might walk right past him.

He’s Winnipeg Waldo, a street-art scavenger hunt that has become a quirky point of connection for Winnipeggers. People snap photos when they find him and post them to Instagram, leaving clues about his various locations.

The street artist/creator of Winnipeg Waldo, who prefers to remain anonymous to keep the mystery alive, has been hiding Waldos all over the city since last summer. He was inspired by street art he encountered on travels abroad. He started recognizing specific names and art styles. “It kind of becomes its own little scavenger hunt,” he says.

He wanted to bring a more deliberate take on that idea home to Winnipeg.

“I think for most people, graffiti kind of blends into the background of the city,” he says. “I thought, if I chose a character that’s known for being found, that might be a little more noticeable.”

Winnipeg Waldo, of course, is based on the iconic character from Where’s Waldo?, the famous British puzzle books that task young readers with locating Waldo in a crowd. (Like his Winnipeg counterpart, he’s a man of mystery. Waldo is actually an alias; he’s known as Wally in the U.K.)

Winnipeg Waldo began as stickers, before its creator moved on to ceramic tiles and wood blocks. His Waldos are mostly constructed from spray paint and found objects. The little portraits have been a lesson in how constraints can often lead to increased creativity.

“I’ll do the classic red-and-white Waldo, but sometimes I’ll customize him so he’s a Smurf, or Walter White from Breaking Bad, or Colonel Sanders,” he says. Also spotted: a Patrik Laine Waldo, a Stormtrooper Waldo and a Day of the Dead Waldo.

There are some 500 Winnipeg Waldos in locations all over the city, generally concentrated around places with lots of foot traffic. And the public has responded positively. “People message me saying they go out looking for them with their kids,” he says.

“That’s something I really enjoy — that it’s not just people looking at something.”

That said, the odd person has swiped a Winnipeg Waldo to keep for themselves.

“The idea of people taking them kind of bums me out a little bit because that’s less for other people to find,” he says. “A big thing about street art is that it’s not for you — it’s not for the individual, it’s for everybody. Whenever people post photos of leftover glue, a lot of people comment, ‘Why did you take it? That sucks.’”

In fact, it’s kind of like circling Waldo in the books after you’ve found him: it wrecks the game for everyone else. “I always hated it when people would circle him in pen,” he says. “Like, come on.”

Besides, it’s not in the spirit of the project. Winnipeg Waldo is about discovery. It’s not about ownership. It’s not even about the artist himself. That, to its creator’s mind, is what separates street art from graffiti.

“That’s one of my favourite topics to read about because it’s a huge debate,” he says. “For me, what it boils down to, is who are you doing it for? Graffiti is all about the artist. I’ve met graffiti artists and they’re very touchy about their work and there’s a lot of feuds out there. It’s all about their name, their work, their turf. With street art, it’s the opposite. It’s about the viewer, the community, the people who are looking at the art. That’s my personal belief.”

He also believes in collaboration. Recently, he put out a call on Instagram inviting other artists in the city to make their own Winnipeg Waldos.

Nicholas Iskierski is one of the local visual artists who responded. “I thought it was a great vehicle for local artists to get their styles out there.” he says. “Everyone knows Where’s Waldo? and our creative-yet-mysterious version of him has kind of caught the eye of Winnipeg.” (Iskierski has never met the creator of Winnipeg Waldo in person. “My piece was dropped off in the cover of darkness,” he says.)

The volume and quality of submissions prompted the creator of Winnipeg Waldo to find a space to show them as a collection. The Winnipeg Waldos will be on view at the Handsome Daughter on Sherbrook Street until the first week of July.

After that, you’ll have to go out and find them.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @JenZoratti

Jen Zoratti
Columnist

Jen Zoratti is a Winnipeg Free Press columnist and author of the newsletter, NEXT, a weekly look towards a post-pandemic future.

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