Unauthorized art on a utility pole opens debate

What is a utility pole, anyway? The dictionary says it’s a post used to support telephone, cable television and power lines.

But Waterloo artist Paul Roorda sees it also as an unofficial community bulletin board. People put signs up on those poles letting their neighbours know about a lost pet, an upcoming concert, or a public meeting.

That’s why Roorda didn’t even think about asking permission when he put up an art installation called “Time Stops,” warning about climate change.

Until the boxes were ordered to be taken down by city officials, there were six of them in the MaryAllen neighbourhood of Waterloo.

Tiny boxes with glass lids were screwed to the poles. Inside, you could see things like an alarm clock with the hands set to five minutes to midnight; a postcard from the early 20th century showing flooding; a barometer; a picture of a house tipped over by a storm.

Music boxes inside would play a distorted tune if a passerby cranked the handle.

“It is really saying, ‘Stop and take notice,’” Roorda said.

Climate change is “so urgent, and yet I think many people feel a bit of paralysis” as they wonder what to do, he said.

So he made these installations as “sort of a poetic warning.”

What he got, to his surprise, was an actual warning — from the city’s bylaw enforcement officers, as well as a visit from police.

On Monday, police said a neighbour had complained the boxes were threatening. (A reader had also sent this newspaper a note to say the display seemed “alarming” and the music box seemed “creepy.” Roorda said this had never been his intention.)

As for the bylaw enforcement officer, he told Roorda to remove the boxes, because they had been put up without permission.

Shayne Turner, director of municipal enforcement services for the city, said municipal officials can remove unauthorized signs on utility poles. Bylaw officials also have the authority to keep the roadway clear of anything that could be hazardous or create a visual distraction.

It can’t become a free-for-all, Turner said. “It’s about having that discussion.”

Beyond this very reasonable attitude, it’s interesting that the city’s response seemed to be more one of sympathy with Roorda’s aims, rather than simply rapping him on the knuckles for putting up his art on someone else’s property without asking permission.

Mayor Dave Jaworsky told me he had come across one of Roorda’s boxes on the weekend while out on a weekend walk.

“They’re very curious,” he said approvingly. “It’s that kind of thing that makes us want to explore the city.”

Roorda has been invited to engage with the city’s temporary art installation program, which means he could receive permission to put them back up on the utility poles.

No harm done. The art can go back once the discussion has happened. The interesting thing about this story is the other discussion it starts.

Must art be confined to the insides of a gallery, where few people will see it, and where it might lose some of its raw intensity in the quiet, well-lit rooms?

Would it not be more meaningful if it was surprising us on our neighbourhood streets instead? And if so, how do we make that happen?