gor[b] Paul Gorbould: Words and Pictures

Junkhouse

Does anyone else live near one of those crazy houses that feature "junk art" on the front lawn?

I do. A few houses up the street, you'll find this place, at 68 Empire Ave. (And no, it's not snowy there any more.) This house features and ever-changing display of statues and decorations made from junk found objects. In the winter, it's augmented by intricate monuments and ice candles, which burn through the night with a rather magical quality.

The house was featured in the Toronto Star in 2004:

Some gardens inspire inertia. Kassa Dabreo's garden makes you think.

The 38-year-old Rastafarian, a native of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, came to Canada in 1985, bringing with him a love for the outdoors and a respect for the Earth. He's committed to environmental protection, and it shows in his front yard.

Dabreo also likes to laugh, and humour shines through many of his arrangements, which involve recycled household goods such as faucets and toys interspersed with wood, stone and other natural materials, such as sliced coconut shells.

At the front, at little-people level, Dabreo leaves an assortment of toys. "Kids come by and play with them. Sometimes they take them, but they always bring them back. I don't mind ... I leave stuff out, like plates, that people can take if they want," he says.

My little kids used to really enjoy those toys that Kassa left out - at one point they had names for them all. When the Star photographer was out taking pictures, he snapped a few of my little one playing with a crab-shaped sand toy that she called "Pinchy the Crab" (to my amusement, the young photog then asked me how to spell "Pinchy", then thought about it and retracted the question.)

Myself, I quite enjoy the junk statues (as opposed to the smattering of "junk piles", houses with broken furniture and garbage from the previous tenant tossed out on the porch.)

Amusement aside, it's probably not the best thing for property values - the house beside this one finally sold after about six months on the market; on our street, houses sell in around 10 days. But I'm not selling, so I'm still enjoying the creativity.

A few weeks ago, as I came home in the dark, I got a sneak preview of Kassa's latest creation: a junk-statue bicycle replete with a canopy, LED lights and spinning propellors! The junk art has gone mobile, and may be coming soon to a neighbourhood near you.