Toronto artist constructs disco tree to slow down traffic
A Toronto resident constructed a “disco tree,” made out of 650 hard drive platters, to solve a local traffic problem.
“I originally started to put large pieces of art on my front lawn because it helped people to slow down. They would stop and think,” says Paul Fegun.
Since 1971, Fegan has lived on Brenda Crescent in Scarborough. In recent years, he noticed cars would accelerate on the formerly quiet residential street. Often, he says, traffic on Danforth Road or Kennedy Road and St. Clair Avenue results in speeding and congestion in the neighbourhood.
Paul Fegun constructed a disco tree on his front lawn to slow down traffic.
For three weeks, Fegan gathered and deconstructed hundreds of hard drives, which he estimates contain between 600 and 1,000 terabytes of data. Then, he loosely screwed them onto the tree outside of his house. Like chimes, the hard drives sway in the wind.
“It’s like looking at a sequined dress,” he says.
Paul Fegun constructed a disco tree on his front lawn to slow down traffic.
Fegan notes that the tree has been dead for a decade, but due to childhood nostalgia, he decided to give it an afterlife, rather than knock it down.
Prior to becoming an artist, Fegan worked in IT for 25 years, which explains why much of his art is made up of electronics. “Now, I dismantle the stuff that gave me headaches,” he says.
This afternoon, Fegan spoke to his local city councillor to discuss potential solutions to slow down the traffic. They discussed putting up city signage encouraging drivers to slow down, but Fegan decided, “I’ll just make my own [signs],” he said. “They’ll be big.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.