Modern Venus

I saw this mannequin in Toronto’s Kensington Market area recently; she was hanging out in front of a cool clothing shop.  This is urban art, I guess.  A plastic lady Venus is possibly an appropriate commentary on the state of our societies and cities today.  Akin maybe, to plastic trees?  [I couldn’t help thinking about “plastic trees” when I saw the plastic person; the reference comes from Professor Laurence Tribe’s seminal 1974 Yale Law Journal article titled: Ways Not to Think About Plastic Trees: New Foundations for Environmental Law.  Tribe argues for a new approach to environmental law, and to our engagement and interaction with the natural world.  In a nutshell, he argues that we should not view (and hence, legislate, regulate and manipulate) the natural world from the reference point of “human need” (i.e. assessing adverse impacts on nature only because there are adverse human impacts).  Rather, he argues for a model that recognizes inherent value (legal and moral) in the natural world that is independent of human need.  If you are curious, you can read it here.]

Kensington is littered with a mix of hipster stores, butcher shops, fresh produce vendors, fish mongers and a whack of other stuff.  That little pocket of the city is very crammed, walkable and easy on the camera.

This image is part of Monochrome Weekly.