Vinyl records with mysterious messages popping up across Winnipeg
Posted August 30, 2022 12:14 pm.
Last Updated August 30, 2022 12:16 pm.
Mysterious, ominous and inspiring messages are appearing across Winnipeg.
They’re written on vinyl records and being placed around town in an art installation that’s got Winnipeggers talking.
There are 60 records in total – all with unique messages.
“Buried deep down inside, I left a grave but it turned into a garden,” reads one of the vinyl messages.
“Yesterday I saw a mountain, today I see a stone,” reads another.
One of the 60 vinyl records that popped up across Winnipeg as part of an art installation. (Credit: CityNews/Mike Albanese)
It’s got some in Winnipeg scratching their heads.
“I came across this record up on the hydro pole, I read it and I’m still trying to figure out what it means,” said one person.
“I enjoy them, I think they’re serving their purpose: they provoke thought,” said another. “Given the timing with COVID, the economy, just the way things are, I think the intention is to make us step back, pause, and think.”
CityNews spoke to the artist behind them – a member of “Press on Winnipeg” who asked to remain anonymous.
“We’re just trying to put it in ways that people know they’re not alone,” said the artist.
“We live through life event after life event these days… there are always things going on, but there are huge things going on right now.”
The artist at Press on Winnipeg created 300 original quotes to add a level of thought to what would otherwise be a typical backdrop. With the daily stresses that our modern lives bring, it was the artist’s aim to have people feel seen.
“Sometimes they may seem darker because I’m trying to relate something to people feeling a certain emotion, or going through some mental health issue,” they said. “When you read something that relates to you, you feel seen. It doesn’t matter if it’s just words on the street, when you see it you can say, ‘oh, someone else has gone through that too.’”
The quotes have been construed as gloomy, but the artist says art is subjective and not everything is always black and white.
“When we have hope, it’s not necessarily because things are going how we want them to,” they said. “Sometimes there is heaviness, darkness, that’s why we need hope in the first place.
“That’s why it’s not always happy-clappy stuff. It’s struggles we all go through here or there.”
The feedback appears to be quite positive.
“I love seeing it, it lifts me up and connects you to people,” said one Winnipegger. “You put it on social media and people say ‘oh I’ve seen the same thing.’ It adds a splash of colour, and some happiness to your day.”
“My daughter and I actually talked about it and she said there is such a thing as hopefully-dark, which is sort of accepting the dark moments in life, but there is hope, that silver lining,” said another.
“As I kept walking, it was in my head: what does it mean? What were they getting at?” recounted a third Winnipegger. “To me, it was a great example of turning my otherwise routine walk with the dog into something more interesting and interactive in the community, which is really cool.”
The artist says there are at least 200 more records going up in the next two years. The records themselves are scratched records donated to the group from record shops around the city.
