Salvage: Creating the TEDxConcordiaUPortland...

Salvage: Creating the TEDxConcordiaUPortland Stage

When my curator, Matt Wagner of Hellion Gallery and I took a trip to the Concordia gymnasium for introductions and research for creating the TEDxConcordiaUPortland stage, we fortunately took the wrong road when we approached the school and ended up on the far north side of the campus where a small neighborhood of houses were being demolished or moved elsewhere for low income housing.

We both marveled and dreamed about the materials that potentially reside in these homes. We learned that Concordia University had purchased the land to create an outdoor athletics field. Through the understanding and generosity of the Physical Plant, we were granted access to the house and could take whatever we wanted. So, with an army of friends, we spent 2 days salvaging what we could.

It was the drawers that became the spark for this installation. It was these drawers that became the loudest voice and were unaltered, left in their natural state. All the other materials you see in the installation were also left as I found them, only trimmed. By the time this project was complete, I had only one box of scrap wood, which we respectfully honored in an evening fire pit of celebration & completion.

Other local community organizations, such as The Rebuilding Center, Pistils Nursery, Salvage Works, and Orange Carpentry also generously donated materials. In addition, the installation includes leftover cedar fencing from my Aunt Becky, cedar siding from my grandfather’s house, and pieces of a dining room table formerly owned by TEDxConcordiaUPortland’s Organizer’s father. So the palpable history and source of materials added a rich dimension of creative sustainability.

Many of these materials were doomed for the landfills. By using sustainable materials, using sustainability as inspiration, and wood rich with history, this was effortlessly created without the need of fresh cut timber, or materials that take centuries to decompose.

Written by Blaine Fontana of The Fontana Studios, creator of the TEDxConcordiaUPortland stage installation