Montreal Counterpoint

Morgan's recent post evoked a "gems in the shit" sentiment in me; This old city has been falling apart since it started, and we have to find small, secret moments of beauty in the "mangle of neglect". The constant state of disrepair contributes to most visitors' impression of Montreal as a historic, charming, creative place. As residents, we have to look harder. We see that it's not the decomposing infrastructure that exudes 'charm', but the creative people who re-make their surroundings to be functional, comfortable and unique. Like hermit crabs who inhabit whatever shell the environment provides, making a temporary home, we cannot expect this shell of a city to give us any aesthetic hospitality. It's up to us to find, renew and imbue.

Hipsters with good organizational skills have banded together all over Mile-End and Grifftentown to do just this. Converted warehouses such as lab.synthese, Eastern Bloc and L'envers host musical events, parties and art shows in an unconventional space with unconventional alcohol licensing (read: none). These places could be seen as ugly. They have exposed pipes, chipped paint, broken windows, uneven floors, poor heating & plumbing and terrible architecture. But they are alive! There are beautiful young people pretending to be bored, getting drunk, talking about art and ideas, touching each other and fixing up the wrecked parts of the city in order to continue doing these things. The ugliness of these places has been overtaken by the brightness of youthful enthusiasm. It's guerilla beautification.