| The Heidelberg Project | ||
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In
2001 I bought a copy of 'The Detroit Almanac,' which was published
to celebrate the city's tricentenary. The book documents anything
and everything to do with Detroit's culture and history. It is great.
A photograph on page 429 caught my eye. It depicted a house, a car, a street, everything painted with polkadots and a tree completely covered with furniture, scrap, election campaign cards, consumer goods, plastic, toys. The scene looked like a cartoon but it was real, the photograph depicted a real place in Detroit, something called The Heidelberg Project. I wanted to see it. I found Heidelberg Street on a map, it was off to the east side of the city, a very depressed area even by Detroit standards. Simon and I got lost on our way there, but soon we saw polka dots painted on the street and we knew that we weren't far off. A man stood around with a paint pot and we waved at him and shook his hand, it was Tyree Guyton, the project's creator. The Heidelberg Project was made for the word AMAZING. Inspired by his grandfather, Sam Mackey, an outsider artist, Guyton transformed his neighbourhood street, a formerly forgotten place that included vacant lots and derelict houses, into a magical wonderland. The work is about hope, love, fellowship between humans. The artist paints the faces of god, he builds a Noah's Ark from toys, he covers houses with dots and pennies. Guyton's work ignores boundaries - no canvas? Use some board you found instead. Run out of space? Paint on the road. House too small? Cover the roof with slogans, assemblages, found stuff. Nothing escapes the project. Since 1986 Heidelberg Street has become home to the Dotty Wotty House, The OJ House, and The Number House. There were more houses but they were destroyed by Detroit authorities in 1991 and 1999, they said the art was a health hazard. Despite the demolitions, the work lives on, its heart gets bigger, there are great plans for expansion. Meanwhile, Guyton has become a celebrated figure. He continues to work on the houses, the streets, he's planning to turn the Heidelberg Project into a centre for artists, he travels the world and talks about his work. It's impossible not to love this man. We went to see the project again in 2004. Guyton was in Australia but his brother was hanging out on the porch of the Dotty Wotty House. He came to say hi, he laughed at our accents and wanted to know if black people in England talk the same way as us. He sold us some postcards and gave us a hug. The postcards were expensive, I don't know if the brother jacked up the price, or where the money he put in his pocket went afterwards. I didn't care, it was a fair deal, we were rightly ripped off, it was done politely, humanely, we could afford it. A neighbour came over and we talked to her too. They wanted to know about England, we wanted to know about life on Heidelberg Street. I don't know what it was about this meeting that moved me, let me try and get it out. When we met Guyton's brother in the road I felt the whitest and most privileged that I've felt for a long time and it made me want to hide in shame. The brother and the neighbour wanted to know us, they were friendly, even though they must be well over the idea of people visiting the site, they treated us as though we were people, not more gawkers. The postcard maybe-rip-off was just business, it was okay. The rest of it was extremely humbling and heartwarming and it all took place amidst this incredible, unforgettable, inspiring and beautiful cityscape that Guyton has created. In a Sesame Street way it made me think that maybe this is what life could be like if I forgot my differences for a while and opened my heart a little. It kicks me in the gut when I come across people who are doing their own amazing thing because they have to, because it's part of their reason for living. Although Guyton is becoming known now, it wasn't always that way. When he's not travelling, he's out painting, continuing his art. How can you not be moved by that? As we drove through Detroit Simon noticed dots around the city, Guyton-style dots painted here and there. I'm waiting for the day that the project breaks out of Heidelberg Street and covers the derelict skyscrapers downtown, the Ren Cen, ComericA Park, the freeways and all the rest of it too. I think that day is not far away. www.heidelberg.org |
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