It Takes A House To Build A Wall

Before

I'd been living in my new neighborhood for four months, two of which were exceptionally cold. I still hadn't met most of my neighbors, so I was made more a stranger by my habit of sifting through rubble (sometimes in the rain) and driving slowly down the alley with a heavy load of house parts weighing down,and hanging out of, my Focus.

Eventually I met Joe and his wife, and they were very friendly and encouraged me to take it all away. After months in a pile, the site was finally cleaned a few weeks ago. You'd hardly know that something had stood that ground for close to a century.

...and this is how we met. (don't worry, it's brief)

After

Now the back yard is filled with old timbers, a few dozen bricks, lined with 10" trim and sash windows...and big.ass.art projects. Because if you're going to drag a house down an alley, you should do something big with it, right?

I'll spare you the 7 minute video of me scrubbing mold and dislodging multiple species of insects and their larvae, but rest assured that it exists. Also rest assured that, as a time lapse, I spent far more than 7 minutes in those particular tasks. They were easily the most arduous, but they made the rest of it more of a joy to execute.

All the lath, lapboards and trim are from the above property on Grove. Eight pieces of the tongue and groove also came from that same pile. The remaining 10 tng came from various porches and fences. The 2x4s were pulled from a construction dumpster near a downtown development. The remaining ply and board lengths were found behind an electronics company that frequently receives large items in crates.

Here's a little step by step on how I put it all together.



The final piece is roughly 8x6. It's first job will be as the backdrop in a photo booth at a wedding. It's storage is still in question.

Now to finish the other one that's hiding under that tarp...

ps. I would like to thank the Shiloh Baptist Church for their decision to raze the property. From that aged wreckage, something new was born.