Mad Bricks

"Despite my good intentions, these bricks seemed to be taking their frustrations out on me... they weren't angry at me personally. I just represented a population of apathetic people who preferred to build new neighborhoods instead of investing in the existing ones."

By Lauren Hodges

Wilmington, NC – Lauren wanted to build a brick wall in her backyard and planned to collect bricks from old, crumbling buildings around town. She learned the hard way, though, that the bricks did not want to be collected and that each attempt she made to bring one home was met with resistance and anger.

Lauren Hodges writes a weekly art column for Encore Magazine. She is one of the founders of Art for Action at the Southeastern Alliance for Community Change.