Hard Working Junk

Image Credit - CC Chapman on Flickr

What has your junk done for you lately? What’s it really done for anyone lately? Other than lazing around, taking care of all that pesky ‘free space’ for you, that is.

I don’t expect much from the stuff, and I don’t think anyone really does. I mean…it’s junk! I doubt anyone’s counting on it to bring about world peace. However, after seeing what’s happening in a couple of rather incredible backyards, you may be even keener to call in the experts at 1-800-GOT-JUNK? to clear out your own run of the mill junk; perhaps even sending it to new life somewhere unexpected.

First, I present to you the Cathedral of Junk. While some may use that as a euphemism for a particularly packed garage or basement, this place is on a whole other level. Begun by Vince Hannemann in 1988, the cathedral is actually a multi-room structure made entirely of unwanted junk. Built from over 60 tons of junk and intertwined with local vegetation, one of the more surprising things about it is that the building is actually structurally sound.

Whether it’s by virtue of the pious construction or of the (often nostalgic) materials, the cathedral is reportedly a remarkably peaceful place for contemplation. How does your storage room stack up there?

Image Credit - beecoterie on Flickr

Next up is the Forevertron, a science fiction fantasy built by the semi-fictional Doctor Evermore (sometimes known as Tom Every, a scrap artisan and owner of a local salvage yard). Rather than a single building, though, the Forevertron is another world. Begun in 1983, it remains a work in progress that defies predictability.

A bird band made of scrap metal and old instruments. A unit made from the decontamination chamber of the Apollo space mission. A towering space ship designed to catapult a 19^th century scientist through time. It’s a strange and wonderful space…not really a parallel to your own rusting lawn tools out back.

In both these cases, hard-working junk is responsible for inspiring wonder, peace and an impression of odd, whimsical beauty. My own junk’s never inspired that in me, which is probably the case for most of us. But hey…maybe if you get rid of your junk, some of it might find its way into a place like that. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Oh, and one note to all:  1-800-GOT-JUNK? removes your junk, but we don’t aspire to create cathedrals or wonderlands ourselves. We’ll leave that to talented and imaginative artisans like these.