Lowbrow humour takes to Exchange rooftop

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/09/2021 (1139 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the heart of Winnipeg’s Exchange District lies the historic Gault Building. Erected in 1900, the heritage-status brick warehouse is now better known by the name of its longtime occupants, and recognized from afar by the rooftop fencing spelling out its iconic moniker: Fartspace.

Hang on, that can’t be right…

Fear not — no rogue Banksy-type scaled the six-storey building’s fire escape to prank the downtown. The mysterious addition to the iconic ‘Artspace’ sign, which bubbled up on social media this week, was sanctioned by the executive team.

Just don’t expect them to snitch on the artist.

“I don’t know how much I can tell you,” Artspace executive director Eric Plamondon laughed over the phone Tuesday.

“It’s a public art piece that kind of came out of the culture of Artspace lending both the insides and the outsides of the building to people who have creative ideas and want to make sure the exchange district is a creative campus that has dialogue with community.”

For the next four weeks, the exchange district is part-host to a month-long Nuit Blanche exhibition, meaning those with a “curious eye” might be rewarded, said Plamondon.

In the spirit of having eyes and ears open, Plamondon said the historic arts building offered up its rooftop for an uncomplicated chuckle.

“Someone came and said: ‘We want to do this thing and it’s not complicated, it’s not highbrow art, but we think it’s cute and funny, would you be down?’” Plamondon explained.

“And if somebody sees it, has a giggle, then it’s 100 per cent worth it.”

Plamondon said the building — which belongs to the Crown, and thereby the public — is intended to “allow space for art to exist and be created” both in its galleries and theatre, and in its facade.

Artspace doorways are being prepared for a public exhibition, window displays are frequently transformed into exhibit spaces — so why not the roof, too?

Plamondon said the fencing on which the sign hangs is some of the last original rooftop fencing in the Exchange, and certainly the last used to advertise the building’s purpose; drawing extra attention to the iconic fence is an added bonus to a well-meaning laugh.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers