FLIP THIS ART

   In my practice, I've redefined many things as art. A cow, a church, a rock band, a school, a Thai boy, all fell under this rubric. But, to be honest, when I purchased WSSP, art was the furthest thing from my mind. I knew real estate prices were beginning to slip, but the bubble had yet to burst. I had just come off of a big house transformation up in Stone Ridge, for a NYC couple with deep pockets. And was about to begin moving GNJohn's ancient barn across the road to it's new home (see:watchthehousegrow.blogspot.com), and saw WSSP as a money maker. Buying at such a low price seemed to position me to attack it with labor and maybe 50k and flip it. Man was I dreaming.

   Take my word for it, you can't build a house for less than $150,000. A year into the process I had nothing more than a good looking facade. And now we were hearing such terms as "sub-prime" , gas was $4 per gallon, and house prices began a free fall. How could I get out from under this? My solution was to include WSSP in a show I was doing at Marianna's Apartment in NYC.  I had at least $75,000 in  at this point. And to my great surprise (and never ending  gratitude) the artist Samm Kunce bought the place, with the eventual understanding that the two of us would colaborate on finishing it as sculpture. The journey was just beginning.