I was at a coffee shop on College Street when the barista Tony yelled “Hey! There’s that duck!”
I turned and, sure enough, out the front window was a… duck. A giant pixelated-looking green-headed Mallard set atop a rubber-tire-sized body on top of orange-stockinged legs and a pair of orange Converse. And he was just … walking by.
Like some kind of interdimensional tumbleweed.
Uh, what … was this?
Some gimmick from the local radio station? An ad campaign for a boot company? I ran outside with my friend Ateqah and was puzzled that … she seemed to know him!
“Hiiiiiii Lewis,” she cooed. “You’re looking great, Lewis! How’s your day going, Lewis?”
He just … quacked at her.
I had so many questions: “Who are you? What are you doing? What is the meaning of this?”
But, of course, he just … quacked.
Ducks can’t talk!
Then he turned and did a 1920s-pauper-finding-a-penny-style heel-click a good three feet in the air and I was left standing on the sidewalk, stunned, with a big smile on my face.
I couldn’t let the story finish there.
Turns out Ateqah had been following Lewis Mallard on Instagram for years so when she saw him she knew who he was. She took a picture of us and posted it on her Instagram Story, after which Lewis Mallard picked it up, artistically edited it, and posted it on his own.
I learned Lewis Mallard is an anonymous ‘interdimensional psychedelic folk artist’ responsible for street performances and art installations across Hamilton, Toronto and, most recently, Victoria. Little duck-painted streetcar stations are popping up and, of course, the duck, in full quacking character, is being spotted on the streets.
Lewis’s work has been covered in all the local press in Toronto—CP24, City News, CTV, The Toronto Star, etc. In one of many pieces of coverage in CBC a person named J.J. Collins, manager of a local record label, said "Anybody who sees Lewis will tell the next person they see and say, 'Oh my God, I saw Lewis on the way to work today.' It's like finding the golden ticket."
Finding the golden ticket? I … love that. BlogTo calls Lewis a “Toronto legend” and a “viral folk artist” and was trumpeting him after he painted a Toronto streetcar stop to look like … himself.
There was this … allure, to me, of what Lewis Mallard *was* and what he was doing. Taking over the streets, creating art amidst dustry construction, and mapping rivers of love, humanity, and community through endlessly flowing change we all feel happening on the streets.
Lewis Mallard agreed to meet me in human form—though his face, name, and identity remain secret throughout this interview—on a bright orange bench on College Street outside the same Manic Coffee where I saw him the first time. Lewis and I parked in the hot sun in front of noisy streetcars, gaggles of teens, and one guy who (really) believes Lewis is a spy.
We share Manic's famous yogurt cups, ham and cheese croissants, and cookies—all homemade!—and discuss sacrifices for art, the power of the collective, the right amount of ‘bad,’ community through poverty, how to parent your parents, becoming an adult reader, what vandalism *really* is, and, of course, Lewis Mallard’s 3 most formative books…
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 139 now…
Chapter 139: Lewis Mallard valorizes visionary vandalism
View full transcript here
CONNECT with Lewis mallard
Lewis’s 3 Books
First book (32:50)
Second book (1:18:30)
Third book (1:30:16)
WORDCLOUD OF THE CHAPTER
Quotes
“I always wanted to be an artist ever since I could remember wanting to be anything, and I’m just trying to figure out how to do it.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I spent a lot of time alone playing with myself, trying to get my parents attention and not ever getting it... I would throw shit from my diaper at them because I was probably angry at being left alone for so long. Of course I don’t remember doing that but I think it’s in my personality to do that.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“When I first discovered folk art I didn’t really appreciate it because I was really stuck in this mentality as a teenager that art had to be as high-skill as possible.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I think there’s a lot of lovely magic that happens when people don’t completely understand what they’re looking at and then depict it in the way that they are able.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“It felt like just the right amount of bad.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I was antagonizing in my own way. I would make my own t-shirts that said ‘Jocks Suck.’” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I was very angry at the world and I didn’t know why.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I was never much of a reader. I had a difficult relationship with reading through school. I was in the remedial class.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I was very good at realism and not much else. Drafting I was good at, mechanical drawing. These are things that came very natural to me. The creative making up stuff out of my head and putting that down on paper, to me that was amazing and I didn’t understand how people did it.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I liked altering my surroundings. I liked the danger of it. Something that was bad but not catastrophic.” (regarding graffiti) — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I look for places, objects that are not typical vessels for graffiti...This one in front of us I saw as a forgotten piece of street furniture that the city doesn’t have the time or energy to repaint...I look for the spots that nobody wants and that I see potential in, and I try to make them look nicer.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I would love to see more creative, more interesting and well thought out public street art, graffiti. I would like to see people really think about what they’re doing and try to do it the best way they can.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“We were sharing a bed, we were washing our dishes in the bathroom, and we were eating rice, miso soup, and eggs three times a day. It’s all we could afford. I learned how to make a really good miso soup.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“The idea of the collective was that we were going to work on each other's work. We were going to try to remove the ego out of the art.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I’m built like a bird. I’ve got thin bones.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“Every day I draw patterns as an exercise to do something solely for myself, and to develop a skill, and to see where it goes, and to see how good I can get at something.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I started thinking thoughts I’d never thought before.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I’m the only one telling me that I can’t do it, so what the fuck do I know? I’m just going to do it.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I didn’t want any distinction between my art and my life.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
“I think anybody listening is capable of a lot more than they think they are, and that if you give yourself a chance to amaze yourself you probably will.” — Lewis Mallard | 3 Books Podcast
Show Notes
‘The Giving Tree’ by Shel Silverstein
Kids (1995)
‘The Hidden Life of Trees’ by Peter Wohlleben
‘Why You Need an Untouchable Day Every Week’ by Neil Pasricha
‘Hawaii’ by James Michener
‘Chesapeake’ by James Michener
‘The Source’ by James Michener
