Abandoned Terminal Redex

October 27, 2011 John Rust Leave a comment

Several months back (July) I went to a weird site at 3670 Doniphan.

There are a few scattered buildings and a single sign that displays “Terminal” at its top.

The few buildings at the back are the only remnants of industrial activity and they don’t match the age of the other foundation bits and pieces scattered around. There are these weird blocks that seem to be marking some sort of station locations set next to train tracks that snake through the property.

The last time I was here the main “office” building had been locked up with entry accessible only through a hole in the wall. A side storage area was broken in to but not very interesting.

This time around the front door had been pried open and the second story graffiti was new, overlapping the older tagging. Once inside I noticed something kind of weird, the walls had sections broken out in seemingly random spots. I also noticed some exposed ceiling tiles and cut sections of pipe insulation on the floor and then it hit me… copper scavengers.

A couple of fake plants and a desk was all that had been left behind. The drawers had been rifled through, though I wager there wasn’t anything to begin with. After walking back out I headed over to the electric station were it was obvious that nothing is going to be going on here for a while.

At about this time a white Jeep Liberty with a flatbed trailer drove up behind the building. I continued to take pictures, waiting for some sort of acknowledgement for the driver. Eventually I got a nervous “¿Qué Pasa?” from the driver who was holding some very large bolt cutters. I approached him with a “Hey what’s up?” trying to explain that I was taking pictures because well you know… abandoned stuff is cool. Confused, he clearly had no idea what I was taking about and asked if I understood Spanish. I went with “No” to make things nice and simple and continued take pictures but not of him fearing I would spook him further. There wasn’t much was left around to look at except for this nice canister:

I headed out leaving the scavenger behind, I guess there was still some copper to be had that he wanted. Recycling is all the rage right now, so I guess he can be considered to be doing his part for the environment??? The full Flicker set can be viewed here: Abandoned Terminal Pt. 2, for comparison here’s part 1: Abandoned Terminal. My very first view of the site from next door with my Holga can be viewed here: 2008 Graffiti

Art, Photography

Chalk the Block ’11

October 17, 2011 John Rust Leave a comment

This weekend downtown El Paso held the 4th annual Chalk the Block event. The organizers bring together artists, artist teams and other performers for a free event that turns the sidewalks around the plaza and museum into temporary art installations. With the recent removal of the fences around San Jacinto Plaza the downtown park makes for a great place for artists to create chalk and pastel works on the concrete.

: Big Red Heart

We arrived early Saturday morning so many of the artists were still working on their pieces. There was still a bunch of other things to see as we wandered around. Poetic Kinetics was on hand displaying one of their Holding Flame sculptures:

: Holding Flame

Jack was mesmerized by it but Shaun was a little afraid. The flame visuals created by the burner at the top really can hypnotize you. The heat kicked by the flames keeps you mindful of the danger overhead but the distance keeps you safe. Fiat of El Paso was also using this a showcase event for their just launched 500, with artists creating works around and on the spry little hatch.

There was a large selection of food trucks on hand hawking all sorts of nacho-churro-relleno-on-a-stick concoctions. We opted for a stop at Kipps Cheesesteaks for their awesome hot sandwiches.

: Eat at Kipps!

I guess no outdoor event is complete without some sort of protests. The Occupy Wallstreet protests that are currently sweeping the globe have even spawned a local group who were standing out in front of the Cortez Building. They had wanted the center of the Plaza but were supplanted by the arts this weekend. Go Arts!

Main street had been turned into an informal gallery space with several booths set up and artists displaying their wares. Local El Paso artists David “Grave” Herrera and Mitsu Overstreet of “Border Youth” were on hand laying down some paint on a Sun Metro bus:

: Grave’s Border Youth

The kids were about done at this point and we had seen everything that was worth checking out. This years event was well organized and looks to be something that will continue and only get better. My full Flickr set can be viewed here: Chalk the Block