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.
Posted by: Paul Gorbould | 04-16-2007 | 01:04 PM
Posted in: Toronto
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hm…kind of cool…if you DON’T live next to it.
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-04-12/goods_mystyle.php - is that him? must be.
I want me some rastafarian soup.
That’d definitely him, and the new bike I was talking about. He said that a NOW photographer would be coming by soon, so there’s some good timing.
“Then, one night I was smokin’ a joint on my front porch and got this great idea.”
Stuff of legends!
Paul: I grew up in a home where the older sister, my Mum and 2 older cousins were …gasp…”Craft people”…shuddder.
You understand this is not “craftmanship” or “artisan crafting”…simply average untalented folks with nervous enery addicted to thowing together the junk that craft stores sell into some rustic looking “conversation piece” or non fuctional criminally-decorative household item….like a colored pipe cleaner bird cage or a letter holder made fron shellacked colored pasta, or statues/baskets/holders made from discarded hedge trimmings….my early life was plagued with this crap….the “materials” for the “crafts” were piled up everywhere in our small suburban bungalow.
Some of ny earliest childhood memories are of going to my closet to get a catcher’s mit and being showered with several kilos of star shaped sequins and styrofoam balls which took up residence on a top shelf overnight….and nights were the worst…they were full of hazard and perils. I was always tripping over newly relocated craft “stuff” or crashing into tables that had mysteriously appeared in the middle of the living room to serve as “drying racks” for late term crafted offspring.
I empathize with your shock and horror at the “craft cult” and it is even more insideous when they must share this degenerating addiction with the world by placing their campy hillbilly space wasters on display in their front yard…my heart goes out to you my brother…watch where you step aroung the “craft house” when it gets dark…crafts have a way of migrating at night to serve as deadly hazards to unwary nocternal pedestrians.
BTW: With the the Rasta craft maker down the street; do suppose this is an outlet for cultural artistic bents or simply the side effect of long term use of very potent pot?
Perhaps these crafted abortions look like objet d’art if viewed trough a pot-ravaged consciousness?
Yes I’ve seen this guy’s crazy bike parked at Carrot Common. I didn’t know he lived in Leslieville. Have you seen the crazy lawn art on Bertmount? And if you want to continue on a weird gardens stroll there’s a house on Winnifred where the guy has done up the facade like a log cabin.
i think it’s real creative and unique. many are afraid to do something like this
nice site keep it on