A Place Where the Sidewalks Smile at You: The Heidelberg Project

    

       Art is a story, in this case it's a creative neighborhood with an array of canvassed houses surrounded by smiling sidewalks and a polka dot covered street. This outdoor art exhibit was created by Tyree Guyton. The Heidelberg Project is located in Detroit, Michigan. The installations have had a positive impact on the community, from the resilient artist to the art. This magical place is the definition of a "diamond in the rough," the spot in question on the map, between "OZ" and "Wonderland." I personally have enjoyed multiple visits to The Heidelberg Project over the years, there has always been something new that grips me. 

       Unfortunately throughout the course of 2013-2014 several of the houses were subject to arson and either were entirely destroyed or hardly salvageable. However, that hasn't stopped Tyree Guyton from reinventing with the house remains. He is a true artist who has the ability to keep moving forward, embracing the loss of his work and adding it to the technique of redesign. 

       So what can be expected at a visit to The Heidelberg Project? Aside from the oddly decorated houses, you'll see lots of recycled materials; hundreds of shoes with no feet, lots of painted faces with no bodies, polka dots, random home appliances, taxis, Gods, burnt baby dolls, clocks, the possibilities of what you'll find at a place like this is endless.

  

       Here are a few of the photos I've taken over the years (2007,2009,2012,2013) dedicated to the man behind it all, please keep creating so we can keep enjoying and escaping to this playground! You truly are a voice of hope!

Clock House

       This house always provoked the philosopher in me. A porch full of numbers and hands presenting questions about time. Where the clocks all tick to a different tock. If there ever was a worm hole in the hood, this was it. What time is it really? What is time? If we knew how much time we had would we waste less of it? Clocks still decorate the streets and trees, but this house was lost to arson in 2013. 

          

       There's two very significant depictions on this old television, the year 1967 which has to do with the Detroit Race Riot that changed this street and city forever and "The Polka Dot," with it's symbolism of connection and unity a common theme on Heidelberg St.  

Connect call anyone? 

Party Animal House

       The Party Animal House always reminded me of a foster home where every stuffed animal hung out to dry represented a child lost in the state, abandoned; the weathered plush of a bear or dog or bird, left behind. This was the corner house at Mt. Elliott and Elba and easily was my favorite. Unfortunately it was another that was burned down, back in 2014.

 

Souls on Fire

       This sculpture is a sad yet very real display of drugs and death. As far as the name goes, I'm not sure what it's called, possibly Memorial, but it was designed by students of the University of Michigan. The red piping is shaped like a trellis of veins over two plastic mannequins with bricks on their chests. There are two needles depicted in front being stabbed into the beginning of the open circuit, and the final needle on the ground empty but paid for with cash and life.  

       Drugs, including heroin and painkillers, are leaving a fatal mark on not only Detroit, but Michigan as a state. These drugs can tare apart families, they alter the user by way of addiction, they destroy lives if they don't take them. You put a price tag on a person when you offer or deal them poison. You sell yourself out when you swallow the pill or insert the needle. If you want to find heaven and self medicate, pick up a paintbrush, a pencil, charcoal, recyclable materials, create something from your struggle. That's the message I got from this artwork.

More faces to smile back at or play hop scotch across.

House of Soul

Where the boys threw vinyls at her window.

           The House of Soul was covered in records all the way around. This house was among those lost to arson in 2013. There was something eerily romantic about this vinyl decorated vacancy.  

OJ House

       The OJ House was the first house to be damaged by arson at The Heidelberg Project in 2013. The OJ here stands for Obstruction of Justice. This porch was a hoarded collection of old televisions and toys, with the letters OJ written all over. 

 

Noah's Arc

A throne for the wild.

   

        Although I did take all of the above photographs none of the artwork is mine and I take no credit. My opinion and words are my own. Other people's views and experiences visiting might be different from mine. The Heidelberg Project is a playing field for emotion and political statement, free to the public and worth the trip for those who are open minded. I'm just sharing some of what this wonderful place in Detroit has to offer in hopes that others will go explore. 

For more on the Heidelberg Project check out these links:

• The Heidelberg Project
• The Heidelberg Project Facebook Page
• The Heidelberg Project Instagram - @heidelbergproj
• #Heidelbergproject
• "Art From The Ashes" (Video) by Tilapia Films

RAD MOUTH

Review: Rant by Chuck Palahnuik

Title: Rant

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Genre: Novel, Satire

Page Count: 319

Publisher: Doubleday

Cover Artists: Rodriggo Corral, Jacob Magraw-Mickelson

Release Date: May 1,2007

My Rating:★★★☆☆

      There's a story inside a story inside a story in "Rant." There's also a great deal of ranting too. I think this book was meant to be read between the lines, a societies catch 22. Rabies represents the rebels, day timers are the redcoats. "Party crashing" is the entertainment created to stay sane. You're presented the detailed life of Rant Casey through everyone's eyes but his own, and of course not while he's alive but after he's dead (or is he dead?). "The future you had tomorrow, won't be the same future you had yesterday." - The whole time travel hiccup in this book threw me for a loop, wasn't expecting that paradox to be thrown in; it left an after taste, leaving me to question the role of a few characters. With the use of a car salesman pitching a lot of the story, it's almost like you don't know what to believe or not to believe, which is kind of the point. People will buy anything if you present it to them right.

Highlights and Thoughts:

• This book is an oral biography of a "killer" some would call feral.

• The main character himself, sounded like a new age "Lost Boy" just trying to have fun.

• Rant doesn't compare well to other books written by Chuck Palahniuk, sure same satire and crude sense but the way the reading material is presented (as others testimonials) it's a very different style.

• I didn't hate or love this book.

RAD MOUTH

Review: The Girl Before by Rena Olsen

Genre: Fiction, Psychological

Page Count: 320

Publisher: G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS

Cover Artist: Amanda Dewey

Release date: August 9 2016

My Rating: ★★★★☆

      This is a harrowing story demonstrating how impressionable a child is, the sad realism of human trafficking, and an uncommon portrayal of love and power. The main character, Diana, in some aspects is the hero.  In other aspects she’s just as bad as the villain. Rather than chapters, this book bounces back and forth between the past and present being unfolded in a "Then" and "Now" format. “Then” (the cause) takes you back to her delusional little house on the prairie and of instances she recalls with her “sisters” and “children.” “Now” (the effect) is her being questioned by police and the slow unraveling of what’s happened, and what’s to come. Diana, will have you hating her for being so blind, but loving her for her strength.

 Highlights and Thoughts:

• A quarter of Diana’s life was a lie.

• Love as Diana knew it, was a mix of real desire, aggression, and bruises. Though I honestly think Glen did love her, he too had been raised in a world where women were property and it was evident.

• The psyche can be one hell of a monster, if you think and believe in something enough you can convince yourself of anything.

• There’s a strong need for the main character to mother and nurture, when her “children” are “taken” away her world shatters. Maybe this need developed as a coping mechanism from early childhood; the strict routine and consequences and the belief that her own parents no longer wanted her.

• I find it commendable, how once Diana starts realizing her role in the whole operation she wants to be prosecuted and held accountable for her part, regardless of having also been a victim.

• Although this book is about trafficking, the reading is not explicit.  The trauma is the focus, the rest is rather implied in a fill in the gap kind of way.

• There were moments when this book made me cringe or I had to walk away before returning to read it, the empathetic in me broke for Diana's character. That being said, this book isn't going to be up every readers alley. 

• I think this would be a great read for any female who has had a history with domestic violence or sexual abuse.

       I received this book, an uncorrected proof for limited distribution through a giveaway listed by G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS (an imprint of Penguin Random House), on Goodreads.com. In return this is my honest opinion and review of the reading.

RAD MOUTH