AURORA | At an underpass beneath the rush of cars overhead on Interstate 225 and East 13th Avenue, sits a tree with intricately arranged bric-a-brac dangling from its branches and interconnected strings. A bright pink hairbrush, a silk flower scarf, a fishing pole.
“I still can’t get over that hairbrush,” says Samuel Bear Davis, the artist behind the mysterious installation. “It’s the hairbrush of the beast. Iron Maiden would love it.” Davis, who is 41 and currently homeless, says he finds the objects from dumpster diving around Hoffman Heights.
Davis compares the site to “Blucifer,” the devil-horse sculpture near the entrance to Denver International Airport which is allegedly cursed.
“I’m not trying to have my art kill me, but I’m trying to put that much passion into it at least,” Davis said.
Davis says he sleeps farther north from the installation, near the corner of Potomac Street and East Colfax Avenue. He gets around by a mountain bike piled with plastic bags, and says he owns a computer light enough to haul around in his backpack.
He maintains an active presence online, where he keeps a blog to record his thoughts and advocates for dumpster diving as a way to conserve resources. A zip-top plastic bag containing his contact information hangs in the center of the tree installation, a way Davis says, people can get in touch with him if they want to learn more about what he does.
He points to a small cage that’s attached to a branch high up in the tree by gold handcuffs. It holds a skull, and another metal set of handcuffs dangle from the cage.
“That explains it better than anything you could say. I was trying to set something free in me. I expected to be arrested for this at any old time,” he says.
So far, the tree and its art have been left intact, despite construction vehicles preparing the way for the new I-225 light rail just on the other side of the underpass. Davis shrugs when a worker in a white truck drives over a painted rock that is part of the found art collection.
“The more I look at it, someone definitely intentionally trashed the place a bit,” he said, pointing to part of a hubcap that has been tossed over a nearby fence. “That’s part of it. I like the idea of having art that’s interactive that anyone can play with.”
Davis has received all kinds of responses towards his art. Handwritten notes of encouragement, a steel wind chime, even a few dollars for the time he has put into the tree, which he has been adding to since last summer. He doesn’t seem concerned that all of his work may be for naught when the light rail construction begins.
“It’s all very temporary to me, as much as I’d love it to be around forever, nothing is,” he said.
Aurora has no formal program for homeless adults who want to create art. But Satya Wimbish, who also uses recycled materials to create art pieces, jewelry and furniture and manages a found-art gallery in the Aurora Arts District, said she has had homeless people stop by to look at her work from time to time, and that they sometimes help her set up for neighborhood events.
Tracy Weil, managing director of the Aurora Cultural Arts District, calls what Davis is doing outsider art. “They don’t have formal training. It’s an interesting movement,” he says.
The Red Line Gallery in Denver has a “Reach Studio” for artists like Davis, which is free and open to Denver’s homeless and in-transition residents.
Weil said he would like to see a similar studio open in Aurora.
“I would love to have some sort of exhibition at the studios and galleries. Maybe that’s something you can do in Fletcher Plaza. We’re all about engaging the community with the Original Aurora renewal,” he says.
Could Davis see his art functioning within the four walls of a gallery? He said he’s thought about it before, but that he gets worried when there are too many people depending on him.
Davis said he grew up in the Mission Viejo neighborhood of Aurora, and that he creates these art pieces as an homage to his hometown.
He points to one of his favorite objects, a doll head attached to a skeletal torso, wearing a Viking hat.
“I try to make little metaphors describing some of my experiences. She’s almost like Aurora to me. A little bit trashed, a little bit damaged, but still beautiful, and still able to hold her head up high. It’s sort of my way for saying thank you to the community for putting up with me. Hopefully you’re not too offended by some of this stuff, although I understand,” he said.
I guess someone would find this story worth reading…maybe another homeless person….I don’t know if there is a point to the story….I guess you’re suppose to feel sorry for these people? what I see is a person that’s physically able to work smoking cigarettes…drinking…doing drugs….”choosing” to live this way…not all but most.
You’re missing the point, Tom Sanders. Sam is an artist promoting art and the development of Aurora and Aurora’s art culture.
As to your other point, I agree many homeless are able bodied and might be able to work. However, many are mentally ill and (yes, again, I concede) caught in the ravages of addiction.
The “get a job” mantra falls very flat because people with addresses and references and previous work history and transportation and other such benefits have great difficulty getting jobs in this day and age.
The get a job doesn’t fall flat because I have been where they are and you can get a job almost always thru labor places….and as far as no jobs…well if you voted for democrats that’s why there is no jobs….you got what voted for.
Oh I get it now. Your question in the original post was rhetorical because you were one of “these people” -physically able to work, but choosing to be homeless -smoking cigarettes, drinking, doing drugs and now you’ve seen the light! Well, as a person who “has been where they are”, I’d think you’d be more compassionate.
I have lived around homeless people…what I see is at least 85% of these people “want” to live that way because someone will house them a lot of the time free….a million places will feed them free and yes 80% are able to work…you live in a society where people have been programmed by government to believe they are victims and somehow someone owes them something.
If you have not seen this art installation in person it is so worth it. The story is about interesting art created by a homeless person, not about homelessness or giving anyone a handout.