Aaron Leighton’s Spirit City Toronto: Part Two

Cover for Spirit City - click through to be taken to publisher's website

Today we present the second part of Dalton Sharp’s interview with Toronto artist Aaron Leighton, author of Spirit City Toronto. For the first part of the interview go here.

Aaron Leighton: I think a lot of Canadian cities are lucky. In Edmonton, where my family lives, there’s a river valley running right through the middle of the city and it’s full of animals. There are bears in it sometimes. In Canada we’re forced to look nature in the face and that’s healthy. It’s sort of like reminding yourself, if you eat meat, where your meat comes from. That something had to die.

That Blackbird pecking the back of your neck—those encounters are little reminders, little mini-lessons, that we have to be mindful of the other creatures. That’s another idea that I’ve tried to get across in my little book, that we think we’re the only ones here. We don’t really consider the animals. We pave our streets, we cut the forest down, we haven’t thought about the consequences. We do now, because we’ve been forced to. We certainly didn’t when Toronto was first being settled. Even 20 years ago, I don’t think that nature was much of a consideration.

Dalton Sharp: So kids, be careful when you run along the Don, you might get pecked!

AL: Blackbirds are notoriously territorial.

DS: I think they closed the path for a few years for bridge construction, and that’s when all these evil Blackbird families moved in. I guess it’s really treed and they nest in there like crazy. They love it near water. I know all about them now. They’re savage!

AL: But those savages are beautiful. The sound of a Red Winged Blackbird to me, being from the Prairies, always makes me think of spring. Very pretty sort of trill, but they’re brutal. They’ll defend their nests.

DS: Are these spirits all good or are some of them malevolent or tricky?

AL: I think they’re like people. Let’s just say if there’s a spirit world, I don’t think they’ll be a lot different from us. There’s good people, borderline people, people who can go either way, and there are nasty people. There are spirits in the book that look friendly and happy, and there’s some you probably don’t want to get too close to. Saying that they’re good or evil of course, makes them less appealing. It’s more fun to imagine. I’d rather the readers project what they want on to them.

DS: What’s the reader reaction been?

AL: The reaction to the book has been really interesting. For instance, I had one woman approach me, and she was doing a doctorate thesis study on pigeons in big cities, about how pigeons are misunderstood and how everybody thinks that pigeons are swimming with disease, that they’re an urban blight. She said they aren’t, that their guano is burnable, you can actually use it as fuel, and that’s just one of the many aspects of pigeons. She was re-examining the simple pigeon. She loved the book. She said, “This reminds me of what I’m doing because it’s taking a different focus on a familiar subject.”

Another guy from Rochester was a high school art teacher. He bought a copy. He wanted to show his students. All they want to do is draw superheroes, and they’re afraid to try new things. So said he’d love to show them what’s possible with a very domestic, urban scene. He said, “Do you mind if I use this as an example in class?” That’s great.

One other guy, Marc Tessier, he invited me to be part of a photo illustrative anthology that he’s putting together. He does a bunch of work based on Tarot cards. For him the more magical occult aspect of the book appealed.

So it’s been interesting to see how people respond to it differently. They see what they want to see in it, which is fascinating to me.

I never thought of any of those things, so that’s been really cool.

DS: For me, as someone who’s lived in Toronto so long, it was fun to recognize so many of the places in the book.

AL: But some people say, “I don’t know where that is. I have no idea where that is.”

DS: I admit some of them did stump my veteran eyes.

AL: Actually some of them I can barely remember where they are!

DS: It’s a pretty unique book. How did it come about?

AL: I’ll do a shout out to Koyama Press. Anne is a friend to all artists, a wonderful person, and like an angel of the arts! If it wasn’t for her this book never would have happened obviously. I’ve known her for about three years.

Anne is innately curious, and that’s one of her biggest strengths. She’s got her own criteria and tastes but she will look at everything closely. She’s doing a unique thing. There’s not a lot of support for young artists in Canada. We don’t really value the arts in this country. She actually sponsored another project with myself and two friends.

DS: Trio Magnus.

AL: Yes, Steve Wilson and Clayton Hanmer. And she just said to us one day, “Would you guys like to do a book out of your sketches?” She loved it. She published the book for us and actually sent us to Japan to launch it at a big trade show.

DS: Design Festa. (sigh) One day I’ll make it to that show!

AL: That’s something else man! It makes the Toronto Outdoor Arts Show seem teensy-weensy. Thousands and thousands of exhibitors. It makes Toronto look like a little backwater berg. Toronto’s great, but you realize how small it is.

DS: Have you read Chris Butcher’s blog reports from Japan?

AL: No I haven’t.

DS: They can be really lengthy, but I like them because it’s like a cheap trip to Japan seen through a comic guy’s eyes.

AL: I talked to him before he was going to Japan. He would have a certain angle on the scene, a certain slant. Personal vision is intriguing to me whether it’s a writer, whether it’s an interviewer like yourself, or a teacher or a student, everyone’s got their own take on reality. And I can’t get enough of that.

DS: Have you ever thought of moving out of Toronto?

AL: Yes.

DS: Who hasn’t?

AL: All the time. It’s interesting, I came here from Calgary, younger and sort of looking for adventure. I moved here not really knowing any one, so getting to know Toronto was a real thrill for me. The first five or six years I still found parts of the city I didn’t know, and I still do, but now that I’ve been here a little longer the relationship has lost the bloom. I love Toronto, I do, but sometimes I just want to get out of this city. I’ve gotten to know it, and I can now do without it. Not all the time, but I fantasize about living in smaller, leafier, more rural places. Especially during the heat waves here this summer—it really does make the city awful to be in. I know a lot of people who love the heat. I’m from the West, so I’m used to cooler climates. I don’t do so well with the heat.

My wife is from North Bay, she grew up on a strawberry farm as a matter of fact, and we go up and visit her parents there, and it’s so beautiful up there. Not a soul for miles around. I like to think I’d do well in a more rural environment, but I don’t know. Living in a big city you get used to having access to people and information and things to do, art events and concerts. We’re really lucky here. There’s so much going on, so many talented people, but yes, I have thought of it.

DS: What influences are informing your art?

AL: Mike Mignola who does Hell Boy. I’m a big fan of him just because Hell Boy is a half-demon, half-human who lives in our world, and there’s all these strange supernatural creatures in our world.

I’m a big fan of Harry Potter as well, which is the same idea. J.K. Rowling created this world, this normal England, but it’s an alternate England that holds a group of wizards invisible to the non-wizards. And all these wonderful, magical things are going on, and no one even knows.

The films of Hao Miyazaki, like Spirited Away…

DS: I was thinking about that film in regards to your book because of what we’ve done to our rivers, burying them.

AL: It’s pure Miyazaki.

DS: We’ve got to have the angriest river spirits on the planet!

AL: Exactly. When I discovered that guy’s movies I was blown away. That’s also sort of the idea of the book—a small homage to him.

DS: It’s kinda scary with Toronto if you buy into what he’s saying. We’ve got some angry spirits around here!

AL: Karma always has to be paid back.

I’m obsessed with post-apocalyptic urban imagery. When I say “post” I mean really far post, like let’s say 50,000 years from now. What will Toronto look like? Will there be anything left? Picture jungle covering the ruins of the buildings downtown if they’re still standing. When I’m walking through the Eaton Centre I picture the whole thing being full of grass and vines and trees. The stores are all empty, they’re all caves, and they’re full of animals. There’s no humans left, but the structure’s still there.

There’s an artist I like, Tokyo Genso, who does paintings of post-post-post-apocalyptic areas of Tokyo, like Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Harajuku. When I saw his work I thought it was amazing—everything covered in vines, everything broken down, but it’s still recognizable.

DS: And it would happen—it will happen…

AL: It will happen eventually, whether we move underground or into the air.

DS: Well if it’s left alone it definitely will.

AL: Any time a space is left alone, nature starts to come back. One of my favourite things to see is old asphalt and that one little green sprout coming up through it. This tiny plant has cracked it.

If you read the Daodejing by Lao Tse, that’s the basis of Taoism: the power of yin, the power of water, and the power of the weak, the low, the dark. He says the ocean is the greatest of the streams because it lies the lowest, because it’s the most unassuming. It’s like the servant of everyone, and yet it’s the most powerful. It’s the same thing with that one little green sprout: it can split a stone given enough time.

DS: One of the photos I love in the book shows pavement where someone has obviously worked very, very hard to plug every little single crack, to make sure there’s absolutely no grass coming up.

AL: And then when they finally stop it’ll be jungle, just like that!

Spirit City Toronto is published by Koyama Press, and is available to retailers through the distribution arm of AdHouse Books’ Ad Distro. In Toronto, it is available at Magic Pony, The Beguiling and Lileo.

All art by Aaron Leighton.