Things keep happening at our old urban playground. Time, as we have learned, does not stand still. Remember this scene, where I was a bit worried that we'd get squashed under a pile of falling concrete at Packard? Well, a huge, and I mean HUGE section of that very building collapsed about a month ago, bringing one side of the place from top to bottom down in a huge heap.
Much of what you see in this reflection picture is now gone, along with those parts of every floor above and below it. We haven't been back to see the destruction first-hand but look below for a picture taken by a fellow Urbexer that shows the giant bite ripped from the side. Seems the years of rain and erosion and oxidation have taken their toll.
In discussing this, we started to wonder what it would have been like to be there when it happened. Was there a warning? Groans and creaks, the terrible sounds of ripping concrete? Or was it fast? All I know is, I'm glad we weren't there.
And to add yet another new dimension to the Packard legend, one of the most famous of all graffiti artists, a very stealthy and talented guy from England who goes by the alias "Banksy", popped into Packard and left one of his famous paintings on a broken wall. He then evaporated without a further trace.
Banksy is so well-known that his art gains widespread attention wherever he leaves it. In fact there are many Banksy-fakes roaming around trying to imitate his distinctive "stenciled" style. But this was the real Banksy and a local art gallery just couldn't resist going over to Packard and removing the work, along with the entire wall it was on, to put on display. This caused quite a skirmish as you can imagine, because most graffiti artists assert that a given work is no longer valid when removed from its surroundings, it loses all its power when viewed outside its proper context.
It is amazing how much drama goes on in places the world has forgotten.
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