Reclaiming parks, one nap at a time

After weeks of protest about anything and everything G20, this weekend a more quiet form of civic disobedience will come to a public space in Toronto, but participants may not even know what they are protesting.

Artists Eric Moschopedis and Mia Rushton came up with the idea of Z’s by the C, a public napping project, three years ago when they heard about new bylaws being passed in Calgary. The bylaw, passed in November of 2006, is called the Public Behaviour Bylaw and basically makes it illegal to spit, loiter, or put feet up on benches. Moschopedis and Rushton felt this was a way to discourage homeless people from sleeping in parks, or anyone who wanted to take a midday break and snooze under a tree. “The regulations imposed on parks are imposed on people,” says Moschepedis.

Gathering people on a certain day to decorate pre-sewn masks and take a nap is a way to reclaim public space and act out against these restrictions on behaviour in public places. Since 2008, Moschopedis and Rushton have taken this project to public spaces in Zurich, New York, Ottawa, Calgary, and now, with the support of the Theatre Centre, they’ve brought the project to Toronto.

“Its designed so that people are sucked into a playful activity long before they realize that it was a form of protest,” says Mochepedis, adding that about half of the approximately 150 people that nap throughout the day are people off the street that they have spoken to and drawn in. “For people to participate in the project they don’t need to be aware of the issues… but they often become aware by the end,” he adds.

It entices people to do something that they may have never thought about, but could thoroughly enjoy — proving that people expect that this kind of behaviour should be acceptable in a park. The pair hopes that the event creates a discussion about misbehavior in a playful way. When people wake up from their nap, says Rushton, they realize that they may have never slept in public before and that they’re dreams were very site specific.

While they had been planning this project to come to Toronto long before the G20 made its disastrous arrival, they hope that protesters can rest their fatigued and beaten bodies without the fear of reprisal.

In Toronto, there are many forbidden activities that we wouldn’t normally consider illegal. Climbing trees or moving picnic benches to accommodate your party aren’t fineable offenses, but could result in your removal from a park. Planning a gathering of more than 25 people requires a permit and no one is allowed in a park after midnight and until the crack of dawn. (This makes me wonder just how many times in my teenage years I broke this bylaw.)

In addition to the napping, Rushton designed cotton eye masks that people are encouraged to decorate with stamps or buttons provided by Rushton. The masks make it dark enough, and the (hopefully) cool breeze comfortable enough that one could fall into an REM sleep and have a fascinating dream while lying in the grass. “Z’s by the C is about dreaming about the future,” says Moschepedis, adding that public spaces are geared towards conversations about democracy, and at reclaiming the future.

Nappers are welcome to join the spectacle at the proposed park on Lisgar just south of Queen on Saturday and Sunday from noon until 2pm.

Photo taken in New York by Bryce Krynski, courtesy the Theatre Centre.