The other day, when the Somerset House (aka The Ritz Hotel, back in the day) suffered an internal collapse, I immediately checked to make sure the Swap Box – mounted on an outside wall – was intact. It was.
On Monday, however, the Swap Box was lying on the sidewalk. Somebody had wrenched it from the wall, maybe with a crowbar. I stared helplessly from across the street at the poor Swap Box.
I wanted to rescue it, but it was WAY inside the police barricades. I would have had to slip under the barricades outside the grocery store, run across Bank Street (which was closed to traffic and pedestrians in case the Ritz finishes falling down) grab the box and run back. That wouldn’t have been so hard, except there were two squad cars guarding the Swap Box and making sure nobody entered the barricaded area. The cops were already eyeing me suspiciously as I photographed the Swap Box from across the street. Or at least I felt they were.
I kept an eye on it for a couple of days, and tried to come up with a plan. Today I got my chance. At 8:00 a.m. I stepped out of the Second Cup at Bank and Somerset with my usual apple-cranberry muffin, and checked to see if the Swap Box was still lying on the sidewalk. It was. I checked to see if the cops were still guarding it. They weren’t! The foreman with the white hard hat was there, but he was on the Somerset Street side. My timing was perfect – I think the cops were changing shifts and there was a tiny window of opportunity for me to rescue the Swap Box.
I ducked under the barricade, ran across Bank Street, scooped up the Swap Box and its strewn-about contents, scooted back across Bank Street and slipped back under the barricade. People looked at me funny, but nobody tried to stop me. Then I finished walking to work, Swap Box tucked safely under my arm. (I have to tell you, the Swap Box is MUCH heavier than it looks.)
At work I inspected it and threw out some of its soggier contents (two packets of sugar, a piece of gum, and a white spongy thing). I saw that part of the wood and two screws had been left behind on the wall when it was wrenched off. But mostly it’s still in good working order.
The question of course is What Do I Do With It Now? I put it on the kitchen table at work, but I don’t think my colleagues liked it. Someone moved it over to the other table against the wall. I guess they thought it was a bit too icky to be on the kitchen table. Nobody put anything in it except me – a vial of vampire blood. Even that didn’t tempt them.
Here it is on my filing cabinet, along with my Magic 8-Ball, the Dave X change box, and various other things. I don’t think it wants to be an Office Swap Box. I think it yearns to be outside. (Suggestions for its relocation are welcome.)
It turns out I rescued it in the nick of time. Eight hours later I saw that a bigger and better barricade – a fortress, really – had been erected around the Ritz. It completely encases the Swap Box’s territory. If I hadn’t managed to rescue it this morning, it would have been entombed forever with the Ritz. (And sadly it’s looking more and more likely that the Ritz will be demolished instead of restored.)
But you know what? That’s not even the BIG Swap Box news! Two readers of this blog emailed me and sent me pictures of OTHER Swap Boxes around town. There are at least three. (And maybe even seven or more, because Robin photographed one that was labeled Swap Box #7). He saw it on a downtown street in June of last year, but he can’t remember which street. He does remember that the Swap Box was empty.
Gilles, on the other hand, provided a precise location for his Swap Box, which was 5 metres west of Bridgehead on Wellington, in the Bagel District. He even included a link to a Google Map. Coincidentally, there was a Miss Vicky button in Gilles’ Swap Box.
Gilles, being retired and free as an eagle, even found time to do some Swap Box research. It seems the humble Swap Box is part of a much larger global Swap Box Project, which has its origins right here in Ottawa!
See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,
and here.
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Has no one mentionned the Swap Box in front of you previous apt. on Rochester? I noticed it for the first time about 3 weeks ago.
Are you serious?? I had no idea! Have you taken a picture of it yet?
I love the Swap Box idea. I can’t wait to see my first one. Do you know of any that are near the Bank and Albert area?
I think the one Robin found was around there somewhere, J. He said something about a side street with a giant sunburst.
I saw #7 in one of those pages you referenced, and the person said it was on Slater. (Or was it Albert?) I forget. I don’t know if it’s still there.
Oh I’m so excited by your rescue project. I’ll ask Tyren where he thinks it should go (it being his neighbourhood and all)
I don’t know how many times I have walked by the box beside Bridgehead and never noticed it. Tsk. Now that I’m also neighbourhood blogging however, I shall pay more attention.
Hmmm… I suggest somewhere around Confederation Park or near the bars on Elgin street. I know I saw a Suggestion Box in front of Griffen’s once.
Okay Tyren suggests that you send it with us to Nova Scotia and we’ll begin the swapbox tradition there – starting in Wolfville – loads of international students to take the idea off with them too.
Kerry, that’s a brilliant idea on Tyren’s part, but I don’t think I’m ready to send the Swap Box all the way to Nova Scotia. I’d miss it too much.
On the other hand, I *might* consider it if Tyren were willing to take pictures of it every week, and maintain a blog about it.
Tyren agrees to take pictures if I help him with the blogging part…we’re already brainstorming what we’d leave in it on its launch.
Elmarks – the Swap Box Artist – is definitely the Mirror Artist! We’ve found our serial street artist
Check out his gallery on DeviantArt: http://elmaks.deviantart.com/art/Mirrors-Cont-d-60250863
Everything’s in there – Immigrant, Life is Everywhere, Impersonate Those in Power, and much much more.
There’s even a photo of him in there.
Apparently, the profs are on strike at Acadia in Wolfville. I heard about it from my friend who lives there. But it seemed a nice spot for a swap box. Maybe just not right now?
Fantastic! The same guy! Elmaks is a genius.
Great job on saving the Swap Box and on Swap Box lookings-after. You know, that wall around the old Duke site would be great for re-putting up that box.
I’m hoping the old Duke building stays up and doesn’t get demolished. Hell, I remember that place back when Ed Mitchell, my old rugby coach, ran it. Some fond memories.
Elmaks! Welcome.
I love your art, especially the mirror art and the swap boxes. (And that Glebe art gallery is gorgeous, thought I’ve only seen the photos.)
So would you rather see the Swap Box go back up on the Ritz wall, or move to Wolfville, Nova Scotia? (They’re guarding that Ritz site awfully well – I don’t know if I could get in there with a drill and not get caught. What happens if I get caught?)
Oh, and another question. I understand there’s a Swap Box on Rochester Street, right outside the apartment I moved out of almost exactly a year ago. Why did you decide to put one there, at the end of a dead end street? How do you pick your locations?
One more question – when you put up a Swap Box, how often do you go peek inside it?
And finally (I know, I’m relentless) – can you give us any clues as to any upcoming street art projects you’re planning? Some of the local blogging community sees them as kind of a treasure hunt, you know.
Well, I like the Nova Scotia idea myself. By all means go for it. How often I look in a Swap Box depends on how often I’m in the area…sometimes it’s a couple of times a week and other times it may be once or twice a month.
I spend a lot of time riding the bus or my bike around the city…so I’m going thru a wide variety of neighbourhoods and occasionally keeping my eyes open for a boarded-up storefront or a wooden telephone pole in the right kind of neighourhood. The area between Chinatown and Preston, to me, needed some sprucing up.
And there’s another Swap Box in the downtown core, just put up a few hours ago. Where would Neil Young get his fix?
SUGAR MOUNTAIN!! On Elgin Street!
There’s a couple of swap boxes that were put up by kids & families. One on Primrose at the foot of Nanny Goat Hill, and another in Hintonberg – Spadina maybe? I go by the Primrose one all the time, and have found some amazing stuff in it. It’s been around all summer.
The one on Rochester by the Sweet Willow garden was put up by me (interior artwork by my daughter) a couple of weeks ago.
[…] If you haven’t been reading the comments in the Fall and Rise of the Swap Box post, you’ve missed some big news. With Gilles’ help in the googling department, the Swap Box artist was identified (his name is Elmaks), and he turned out to also be our beloved Mirror Art artist. He even visited and left comments and gave a clue about the location of his latest Swap Box installation! […]
fascinating project. is this just a canadian thing?
I’m the swap box keeper for the primrose street,
My most amazing swap was a drawing by unknown arstist of a little monster”don’t be afraid of monster””nothing to take all to give”
Thanks.
Nursemyra, the Swap Box Project got its humble beginnings in Ottawa, Canada, when elmaks started making them (I think in 2006, but I could be wrong).
But it’s spreading. Clearly it’s spreading in Ottawa, because a couple of other people have commented on this blog that they’ve put up swap boxes too. And I’ve found evidence on the web that it’s spreading to other cities and possibly other countries!
And look! Swap Box Keeper just left a message saying that he or she is the keeper of the box on Primrose Street, which is in my old neighbourhood. (But not the one I photographed last weekend – I haven’t yet visited the Primrose Swap Box.) I love the idea of artists leaving little drawings in the swap boxes! SBK, I’m going to visit your swap box tomorrow (Sunday). I can’t wait to see it. (Do you personally know Megabytes, the keeper of the Rochester Street Swap Box?)
[…] Speaking of Swap Boxes, I visited the Primrose Street Swap Box on Sunday. The Keeper of the Primrose Swap Box left a lovely comment on the blog the other day, so I made a point of visiting. I really like two things about this Swap Box: the way it opens (upwards) and the height at which it’s mounted. It’s at about my chest level, which means children can use it too. And I imagine children would be the very best Swap Box users. […]
[…] the boxes create emotional attachment: “The other day, when the Somerset House… suffered an internal collapse, I immediately […]
A chum encoraged me to look at this website, brill post, interesting read… keep up the good work!
Hi, I was wondering if I could use some of your photos for a story we are running. Feel free to contact me at perspectives.charlatan@gmail.com
Many thanks!