A pulpit full of food in a somewhat hidden compartment and six matching pews were set up in a homeless encampment in Dallas, off of I-35 and Walnut Hill on a side street, Goodnight Lane. This pop-up installation explores the idea that churches tend to build glossy buildings with money that could be better spent on those going without in their communities. Cameras were concealed in mounds of rocks. Bibles were bookmarked to the verse about false prophets and bad fruit. Offering envelopes were attached to red plastic plates (a symbol for feeding the hungry) and placed on pews with bibles. An empty Bible was laid open on the pulpit, with one page remaining--the same verse as bookmarked in bibles. The whole exterior was wrapped with hazard tape. This first group of images is from the day of set-up.
I visited the set up in the evening of Easter Sunday. The hazard tape had been removed from one side and the area had obviously been used. Trash everywhere. The food on the inside of the pulpit had not been discovered, but all camera mounds had been stolen.
I will be returning to document the decay of the installation. My goal is that the inhabitants claim the pews and pulpit and work them into their homes in the encampment as they have other items dumped at the site.