When it comes to bandos, industrial takes the cake. But houses can be interesting, and almost all of the ones near me get torn down in a heartbeat.
Yesterday, I went to explore a house that was recently boarded up. For over a year, I'd been eyeing the demolition permit on file for the property, waiting for it to be approved. Two weeks ago when I noticed the boards on the windows, I checked, and the permit was gone. I don't know why. Either way, I decided, it was time to go check it out. On some of the windows, since 2017 at least, there was spray paint inside - but from time to time, totally normal-looking people came in and out through the front door.
I thought it had just become abandoned. I was very wrong.
1. The yard's always been a mess with old furniture, but hey, to each their own, right?
2. My friend and I poked around outside. There was a lot more trash than I'd expected.
3. When we got in, we saw a sea of empty food packages. After escaping that mess, the first noteworthy item I found was this set of pictures taped to a wall in what would have been the dining room.
4. More copies were on a small table in the center of the room. Next to the table was a single chair. Also on the table: an ink cup, thread, and other stick & poke tattoo paraphernalia.
5. Tattooing room
6. Empty shelves and a fireplace with an electric tail... It was a gorgeous house at one point.
7. There were a shitload of plants inside. Some of them, like this one, were clearly just dug up from someone's yard and plopped down like ordinary decorations, uncared for. This was in what used to be a sunroom. It's bright even with plywood on covering the largest parts of the windows.
8. There were regular potted plants, too. Maybe at one point they were taken care of, but when I found them, they were dead.
9. Pretty, kinda.
10. There were a couple rooms with just a mattress and tons of garbage - American Spirit Blacks, cigarettes included, and lots of empty booze bottles, plus tons of clothing and empty boxes of expensive electronics. It was standard squatter stuff happening. This place had no used needles, which is, sadly, a rarity around here. In one room where there was no bed, there was a chair, a dead rose pinned to the wall, and a shrub (I forget what this one is called but it's in lots of yards in the region) that was torn to pieces and strewn about the floor. Real fun party equipment?
11. Upstairs was a whole new mess. More food packages. More piles of shit - literally and figuratively.
12. The weird thing about upstairs was that the walls had been painted by the squatters, it seemed. Cans of paint were left behind, and if they'd had more to finish the second coat, it might have looked good. They'd done the blue in the hall and bathroom, as well as the brown in the bedroom, with tape designs to accent it. You can't see the whole wall, but it's actually a neat pattern above the window.
13. More houseplants in this bathroom, and soil spilled in piles by the tub. The toilet was gone, and water damage was in its place. I have no idea where it went.
14. PLANTS EVERYWHERE
15. Eventually, I started thinking back on my days staying in punk houses and having art parties...
16. What are my old friends up to? I could see them living in a place similar to this. I'd hope it would be cleaner, but who knows.
17. Yup, artists.
18. The last place we went was the one with the spray painted windows that I'd seen from the street. See the dragonfly? This whole place was a trip because it was a squat with equal parts joy/art and feces/alcoholism/hoard. I can't say I've witnessed the combination before.