But the king of stencil graff is Banksy, a British artist

Shepherd’s Table is hosting a benefit concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC this Saturday.  The concert, A Tribute to American Acoustic Music, will raise money for the continued help Shepherd’s Table has offered the D.C. area’s homeless people. ST is celebrating 25 years of great service.

My images will play several roles.

I have donated an Alley piece (Alley no. 79 – Tunnel) which will be handed on stage to the biggest sponsor of the Shepherd’s Table cause: Geico Insurance President Tony Nicely.

Next, 500 of the attendees will receive a 22×28 poster of my work (sorry, these aren’t for sale).

And finally, my images will be projected behind the stage, creating an enormous backdrop of Alley images (using an IMAX projector!). I can’t believe I’m going to miss this, but I have to be in LA for the Pasadena Art Festival and for several meetings.

Alley no. 79 – Tunnel  (2005, Detroit, MI, 2:15am)

Its appropriate because it is a haunting song with references to a dystopian future (somewhat like my Alley images) via Orson Welles narrating his classic 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. And it is coincidental because its Halloween, and the song is called…  boo.

Here’s a link to a video of it, although, as with many music videos,  its probably best to just listen, and ignore the video part, which really takes away from this beautiful song. Here’s an idea… I think the song makes a good soundtrack for the Alley slideshow.

Vergara became interested in the plight of the inner-city in the late 1970’s, when he began travelling the country with his camera. But he then decided to return to these same places, over many years, where he would stand on the same spot, shooting the decay in process. The resulting sequence of images is mind-blowing, and can only be seen to be understood. Two of his sequences are posted below.

He, like I do, sees great beauty in modern ruins. He has even suggested preserving some of the country’s grander examples and turning them into museums or tourist attractions.

I have two of his books: American Ruins and The New American Ghetto. They are worth having in your library.

A Camden, NJ street through the years:

South Bronx:

Ok, one little thing… I went to the Chicago Westfest music festival last night with my friend Neil. The headliner was a band called the Redwalls who I thought were brilliant (they sound much like the Strokes, another band I like), so I bought their CD. I think this is their latest single.

That’s it.. I’m all out…

My challenge now is to NOT stay up for several more hours… I have a long day tomorrow, followed by another long night of shooting, followed by an even longer day and night on Sunday. But I’m pumped by caffeine and by the excitement of the shoot. Okay… I’m going to shut this computer off and close my eyes… but who am I kidding… I’m wide awake…

Minutes later, a pickup truck abruptly turns, driving right onto the sidewalk we are walking on and blocking our path. Four big guys in lumber jackets step out and walk toward us. “Wha don’t you git a job an baa a caa,” one says through a sneer. Gerry and I look at each other. “Yea… well.. yea …that’s what we’re gonna do when we get back home.”

They stare at each other, not sure what to do. Another says, “an wha don’t you cut yo hiii, maybe you git a rad.” We stare at each other again and nod. “Yea, that’s what we need to do.”

They stare at each other, angry and confused since we’re not giving them a chance to descend upon us with their fists (and likely resulting in our being charged by the local Sherriff with Disturbing the Peace). They climb back in their pickup and drive away.

“Holy shit, lets get the fuck outta here!!”

We quickly walk to a corner store; I pick up the phone (this is pre-historic, pre-cell phone days) and call a cab. Gerry comes up to me, wide-eyed. “X, you gotta see.” I go to the window and see three pickups parked side by side with their lights on, full of guys staring at us like they want to kill us.

The cab arrives and we tell the cabbie to just get us out of this place. As we’re driving to a campground in the nearby Redwoods, I tell him what’s been happening. The driver looks at me with some disdain – he knows all about us, just like the rest of the town. He growls at us, “If I’d seen you boys hoppin round, I’d a run you over!!”

We get to the campground and have a good sleep. The next morning we resume our trip, finding to our great relief that continuing south, we re-enter civilization where tolerance and people’s sense of humor returns.

Stuff I shot on this recent trip:

Birds at dawn:

Low water levels in California from a 2-year drought

Cows watching the sunrise

Trees watching the sunrise

I was in one other severe storm maybe six years ago in Michigan. It was one of my first shows, and I didn’t know what I was doing back then. I struggled just to break even in those days. But a woman had come to see my work three times, telling me each time how much she wanted four large pieces. On the third visit she told me she would bring her husband to close the deal, and I was thrilled. Minutes later the show people come by announcing a severe weather warning. They tell us we can leave if we want. My neighbors start to pack up, but I just know the woman is coming back, and so I wait. As the weather gets worse I slowly realize she’s not coming back. But now I’ve past the safety theshold and the weather is so bad, my assistant and I are now desperately holding the walls back. I quickly start putting the art into their crates, as Alan keeps the walls from coming down on us. With the help of some of the great and generous artists that do these shows, I manage to get all my art to safety inside my van. However the weather is now pounding us. In one surreal moment, my booth starts to lift from the wind. We get out of the way and watch it lift like in the Wizard of Oz. It is airborne briefly, then comes crashing down on its side and begins rolling. I can hear the horrible sound of screeching, breaking and twisting metal. When it’s all done, I’ve saved the art and half my booth.

I’m better prepared here, but hail ripping through the roof could be a real party pooper. The wind is picking up… I have to go.