Doornamentation Installation

When this all started, Burn Unit had a trash-bound door left over from a house renovation project. The original plan was to build a freestanding frame and run out to a location, like Lyndale Avenue over by The Walker, and stand that door up right around rush hour. The freestanding frame was designed to be lightweight, fast and easy to stake down. It would have fulfilled the task, and given "early-mover advantage" in the horse race for points. But then Burn Unit realized he had more than the one door and a vision struck: a more aesthematic vision of beautiful doors hanging beautifully from the limbs of a great tree. He kept seeing these trees along the parkways of the Twin Cities which cried out to be decorated. He also realized he had more than the one door, if he'd just do some of the other projects around the house, like ripping out those sliding closet doors in the back bathroom, taking the old old doors off the front and back...Hm. Suddenly Doortopia Gardens didn't sound like such a remote possibility...

Saul Z was going to be in town and was looking for some epic tasking possibilities. Burn Unit promised the visitor a good time if he wanted to help with the doors. Wow did Saul deliver! He showed up at Burn Unit's house with a crew of six—relative strangers who aren't even players (yet, but man!)—and they spent the afternoon painting these doors with Burn Unit and Eleanorest. And Saul dug deep, too, producing a collaborator some might immediately recognize as no less than Commando Dan and some of his nefarious associates. Who knew?

Well, they did some amazing decorations on the doors. Dan and Saul concocted this insane riff on a little child's "stenciled playroom," only with vintage aircraft and warships (along with patriotic exhortation for the little tykes). Dan's sister looked past the flat white closet door and saw a beautifully hennaed hand, auspiciously gilt in silver. Two more friends took Burn Unit's vague mutterings about "Janus the two faced god of doorways" and produced a beautiful rendering of Janus' visage on a window, and appropriately classical columns on the door. Burn Unit and Eleanorest kept tabs on the other stuff, lending their much less refined efforts to finish things off.

Then life intervened for a while, and the door project...incubated...with child rearing slowing down the painting completion, and Burning Man sapping the human resources of the Twin Cities crew. Burn Unit and Eleanorest kept the torch alive, painting a little along the way, and keeping the doors stored at their house.
All in all, 10 sides of doors were lovingly painted with a variety of techniques and references, including a little SF-TC love, a lion contributed by one of Burn Unit's neighborhood friends, and plenty of touch ups from Eleanor, who was politely urged to please stay away from the henna-hand and stenciled doors. Days stretched into months and despite occasional positive exhortations from Lowteck (with whom Burn Unit had consulted back when there was a real possibility Doorhenge and The Doornaments would hit the praxis at the same time), there was little serious progress getting the damn things off the ground.

Finally Burn Unit planned more than 4 hours in advance (well, barely) and tried to get it all done. It was tight. He didn't give enough lead time to any other MN0 folks, so nobody was able to make it on a sunny afternoon all the way in frickin' October (no fault of theirs, we started in June) nobody was able to make it to drill, tie, and hoist the doornaments into place. Doortopia Gardens had to be brought to life, however, and Burn Unit committed to getting it installed, at all costs. a site was selected in a nice, beautiful area, with a decent amount of traffic, and in the end the project finally came down to a burst of mad solo activity.

So, after almost five months of gestation, of start-and-stop collaboration, and of small insane fits of tasking, we are ready for you to share the joy of this door installation. At last we can proudly bring to you the doornaments of Doortopia Gardens.

Saul Z
Very satisfying to see this hit the praxis, and hit it hard. I wish I could have been there for the installation, wish I could be in the Twin Cities to see it in person. Thanks so much to Senator Unit for his tireless leadership, warm hospitality, great sourdough bread with honey, and boundless commitment to the Drive.

Update: It is no more
It's almost embarrassing to say this, but doortopia stood for perhaps a single day. Up on Saturday afternoon, and by Monday it was gone. Ephemeral like a dream. Gone so swiftly that we suspect bureaucratic powers were behind it. Though as Mrs. Unit pointed out, "maybe somebody just thought 'free doors'." It's a beautiful thought, somebody spotting some sweet doors and swiping them for home use. But that requires a leap of faith.