a neighborhood kept in little pieces · issue 001
after hours
No one thought to keep these things. A directory, a ticket, a few photographs. None of them explains the whole street, but together they make it harder to believe it was ever empty.
open CHANGELOG.TXT ↗
2003: the directory was rewritten after the second floor changed hands.
2005: one photograph returned without its envelope.
2006: somebody added Austin to the night timetable in careful handwriting.
now: the archive is still being filled.
the building directory
The lobby light is still on. Press a buzzer; nobody will answer, but something was left beside every name.
four photographs
The images are familiar. The notes on their backs tell a little history of this street. Open each sleeve to turn a picture over.
01 / the crossing turn over ↗
Before the repair shop shuttered for the night, someone used to sweep the pavement every evening, even in the rain.
02 / the bridge turn over ↗
From 1B: “We walked across after the rain. I kept expecting you to say we should turn back.”
03 / the old way home turn over ↗
The band came this way after rehearsal. The youngest clarinet player stayed to help stack the chairs.
04 / a different winter turn over ↗
We thought the tracks would be there when we came back in the morning. They weren't.
There are more unannotated images in the photograph room ↗
community noticeboard
No one took the old notices down. The newest one is the hardest to date.
LOOKING FOR MOTHlast seen near the canal · pull a tab
Small grey cat. Answers to “dinner” more reliably than to her name. Please leave the greenhouse door open a little.
— Nora Vale, 1ABAND HALL · WEDNESDAYSbeginners welcome · pull a tab
If you can only play three notes, bring those three. We have spare music stands and one patient clarinet teacher.
rehearsal starts at 6:10ONE PLANT NEEDS A HOMEask at the repair shop · pull a tab
It has survived two owners, a winter without heat, and being watered with cold coffee. Please try ordinary water.
no charge / pot includedSUPPER AFTER THE GAMEold diner notice · pull a tab
Late fries for the whole rehearsal room. Burnt-orange scarf left on the booth by the window; we put it behind the counter.
Night Window, until closingPLEASE COME BACK FOR THISfound in the photo booth · pull a tab
A strip of four pictures. In the last one, everybody is laughing at something outside the frame.
held at Bell & Daughterthe band room
A clarinet case, a stack of folding chairs, and three lines of music written for someone who missed the last rehearsal.
“Play the first part quietly. Leave enough room for the person beside you.”
a little melody from the empty hallPress play. Three quiet lines, then the room goes still again.
tape stopped
the rest of the music room ↗a tide-pool notebook
The water in this city is not the sea. Someone studied it anyway, then tucked reminders of the coast between the pages.
The anemone
A small animal that makes a home by holding on. At low tide it folds inward and waits for the water to return.
Margin note: waiting can be a way of staying alive.