Transformative Trash

It was apparent immediately that I had worn the wrong shoes. My city-worn ballet flats were no match for the pebble-marked, trash-strewn trails and non-trails of the Albany Bulb. The "Bulb", a peninsula jutting out from Buchanan Street into the Bay, was created in 1963 after the City of Albany signed a contract for the disposal of construction debris at the site. As such, it's a granite graveyard, with precarious slabs, wires and metal scraps littering the walkways. For some people, it's trash. For other's, it's art. Over the years, many groups have had a presence at the Bulb, but perhaps none as impactful as the urban artists who have transformed it's debris into artistic treasures, turning the Bulb into a poor man's Burning Man by the Bay. Metal scrap statues keep watch over the Bay like apocalyptic robots re-stationed from their stint in Beck's Midnight Vulture's days. Giant concrete slabs act as canvases for colorful graffiti masterpieces. Even the day artist can find a rock or wood scrap to express their message du jour. It's a place that simultaneously feels lonely and alive. It's a little like stumbling upon the island of misfit toys, where there is both sadness but hope that we can transform even that which is most ugly and unwanted into something of beauty...