Two summers ago, I had a new roommate move in with me in a rear apartment just above what used to be The Hair Mechanic. Our apartment was an old place, on a month to month lease that specifically allowed us to paint the walls as we pleased. I had spent most of 9 months taking advantage of this, accosting friends with sharpies demanding they leave something and painting my walls and ceiling. But she had a better plan.

She posted an ad on craigslist offering food and beer to artists who wanted to come and paint the walls on her room. She managed to get two people to come one Saturday afternoon, one a Mexican graffiti artist who tags himself as Tsel, the other an artist who had dropped out of art school. They did marvelous works.

A few weeks later, we received a notice from the landlord. Due to foundation issues, the building had been deemed unfit for habitation, and we were to vacate within 45 days. So we did what any reasonable person would do. We threw a party and invited our friends to trash the place. Here's a brief account of the wreckage:






This fails to show the hole in the bathroom wall, the damage to our screen, the paint and marker all over the floor, and more. We got what we asked for, then abandoned the place.

But every once in a while I'd revisit the place, typically with new friends to witness the art, the destruction, and hear the story. The last time I'd done this was last September.

So I went with a few friends, two of which were at that demolition party. This building will surely be gone in ten years. Who knows what will replace it. We'll trespass both the future and the present.





I approach through the narrow walkway between two buildings. It's always filled with rotten leaves and flies.



I find the utility panel gutted, the fence around the yard gone, the yard in ruins.




We find the house, previously open and unlocked, now boarded up, with evidence of passers who've made camp at what once was my dwelling.



But I manage to get some shots of the art in what was once my roommate's bedroom through the window, in an advanced state of decay.