Art in Speedway: Minimalism

 A week or so ago, I took an early morning walk 

around Speedway. I had had a specific 

mission in mind, but on the way to that site, 

I took plenty of pictures of other things,

particularly garages.

When the Town of Speedway was established

in 1926, it was envisioned as a "city of

the future." Housing developments were created

that included garages for cars - but no

sidewalks, a problem that has, for the most part,

been remedied in recent years. 

It is these little structures I'm stalking.

Many of the garages remain, some brittle and gray,

others covered in vinyl, others lovingly tended

in homage to their automotive history.

A City of the Future

Last Sunday, I took a walk through part of "old" Speedway, 

to search fro some of the original garages that were built 

when the town was started on July 14, 1926.

The track was first opened in 1909 and the first Indy 500

was held in 1911. One of the track's founders, Carl Fisher,

envisioned the Town of Speedway as the nation's

"first horseless city," with paved streets, brick paved alleyways

that provided access to garages that were built

adjacent to each of the new homes.

As far as I can tell, many of the little garages survive 

in various stages of repair. Most of them have 

been sided over, with nearly all having their original

hung doors replaced with overhead doors.

A few still had their original doors, but could also stand

some attention and restoration. The one below

at least had an overhead door made to resemble

the hung doors originally specified by the designer.

This one had been encased in vinyl siding that has been 

allowed to loosen and split from the corner, 

where I could see the dry, gray original wood.

Oh, yeah, when this "city of the future" was laid out, 
sidewalks were not a part of the plans. While steps have 
been taken to rectify this matter, especially in 
recent years, there are still sections of the town
where pedestrians must either stumble along an uneven
curb, or risk being hit by speeding cars.
Even then, plans were afoot, so to speak, 
to make us so entirely dependent on our cars 
we could not safely walk to meet our neighbors. 
Thus, the "Lard Ass Nation" was conceived.

Welcome to the Broke Elastic Storage Company

When I wondered why so many garages look like this, 

a friend told me that what passes for an attic in most contemporary 

homes is very difficult to get into, involving a flimsy collapsible ladder 

leading to what is not much more than a hole in the ceiling.
So ... a house having over 1,600 square feet of living space has inadequate storage space? My grandma didn't have enough room for her clothes
so she bought wardrobes for the overflow. Don't they make 
those anymore? But the kickboxing practice dummy? I dunno.

Attics at the End of the Drive

I live in a small apartment with one bedroom. I need a bigger place with one more bedroom. As George Carlin would have said, "I need a place for my stuff." My "stuff" is made up of my books and art supplies. There are no bicycles, no tools, none of Gran'ma's knick-knacks. I don't have every Barbie doll ever made, Beanie Babies, Thomas "The Painter of Light" Kinkade schotzkes or Fenton glass. 


Books -- just books and art stuff and one fishin' pole, that's me. And Christmas ornaments and a fabric stash and my collection of  real photo postcards. Oh, I forgot about all my little tiny race cars, a set of Cartier china, glass insulators, and the pickle jars I just hate throwing out. Coffee cans -- I love coffee cans and you never know when you might need one. I have totes on every doorknob and one of those totes is full of the $1 shopping totes I use when I go to the store.


Then there's my honest-to-gosh steamboat lantern with a Fresnel lens and the combination hole punch/binder thing-y Carl bought me to make calendars (I actually use the thing pretty frequently -- adding to my reading stash). I fold all my clothes and put them in drawers, hang up my coats and dresses, put my shoes in a line beneath the chest. And a miter box, an electric drill, as well as my very own jigsaw (I was so damn proud when I went to the big box store to purchase my own tools).


So why am I upset when I see garages in my neighborhood like the one above -- and there are a lot of them -- full of the ephemera of daily life. These houses have full basements, three bedrooms and a utility room. But there's no room for the family car -- or three.


Don't they make attics any more?

This Speedway resident has a nice tidy garage with actual room for their vehicles. The homeowners rent parking spaces to race-goers and the freezer is for the ice they sell, too.

But this one worries me. When I first saw it I thought the homeowners were getting ready to move. There are two of these storage units in the drive, as well as stuff hanging on racks just outside the pods. Crammed damned full. That was a year ago and it looks the same.