When we were taking down our first house on Lombard Street in the Spring of 2007, artist and architect Dennis Maher showed up one chilly morning. I remember him standing there with a pleased grin on his face as we dismantled the building, like the proverbial kid in a candy store. A couple days later, we loaded some “small” panels on his borrowed truck and away he went. He later joined us for some hands-on demo and remains a strong supporter and friend.

Dennis loves building fragments, the contours of the city and all the creative possibilities of demolition. If you want a great chance to see his work, stop by his Allentown studio this coming Friday, March 20. Location is 506 Delaware in Buffalo. Time is 7 to 10pm.

From Dennis’s announcement:

For the past six years, Dennis Maher has been mining demolition sites, salvage yards, waste bins, and second-hand stores for discarded materials and objects. The recovered remnants have subsequently been assembled into a range of new spaces, places, and events that collectively delineate the contours of a city of re-used waste. This ongoing project proposes a host of urban territories that have been regenerated from cast-aside fragments. Maher’s work has established symbiotic relationships between acts of un-building and re-building, coordinating property owners, demolition/deconstruction ?rms, and contractors in the sustainable re-allocation of material resources, waste, and space. Through the raw and rough contours of detritus and abandonment, the outlines of an Undone Redone City begin to emerge.

On Friday, March 20, from 7-10 pm, Maher’s assembled environments will be open to public view at 506 Delaware Avenue. As the city of Buffalo intensi?es its long battle to rid itself of derelict and decrepit structures, this work asks us to think critically about the place of waste and emptiness within our culture. While transforming presumed liabilities into unique urban assets, it offers glimpses of alternative possible cities and landscapes.

contact:

dmmaher {at} buffalo(.)edu