A Lot Cannot Be Vacant

2017, wood, plastic flowers.

The conversation surrounding vacant buildings in urban areas is either centered on possibility or pestilence. People are either making plans for what exciting things could take the pace of boarded up homes, or bemoaning eyesores and possible hazards. Rarely does the discussion center on the people who lived there, their stories, their lives, and the reasons that they might have lost their home.

This piece both asserts their stories at the the forefront of the physical space, and memorializes residents. A lot can never truly be vacant, because a lot was inhabited. It was loved, or it was complicated. It shouldn’t be possible to simply forget the people who lived in a space, for the sake of those who want them forgotten. Change can happen, but lives and stories must be honored for the sake of community.