Found object landscaping in East Vancouver’s eclectic neighbourhoods as seen through the lens of photographer William W. Ting.

Old metal lamp posts frame a piece of recycled and redesigned sheet metal hung as a front gate just a few blocks from my new abode. I moved to Vancouver 6 years ago and finally feel like I belong here. The neighbourhood I’ve just moved to is Commercial Drive, a place infamous for the mixed bag of characters that live here. There will never be another place like Commercial Drive. It is truly a unique and beautiful monster and the residences in the area seem to be stoking the eclectic fires.

As I walk through the neighbourhoods of East Vancouver my eyes are greeted with an aesthetic that I have seen in other parts of the world, but never in such concentration. The re-use of found objects (otherwise abandoned in a landfill) as lawn art is by no means a new fad but a time honoured tradition in some families.

With varying degrees of artistic liberties, the lawns in this area of Vancouver are impressive and inspiring feats of creativity. The aforementioned gateway is one of endless examples I see on a day-to-day basis and one of my favourite sights. Another favourite is the stereotypical 1970s giant wooden spoon, once intended for the kitchen wall, this one ended up on top of a corner post. On the crazier side of things I have actually seen two polka-dotted houses just blocks from each other, the popular toilet as flower pot/planter, the punny bedframe skirting a “flower-bed” and even an entire car used as a planter. One style which seems to be more common is fencing made from dead branches, repurposed wood planks and broken shovel handles. A memorable stone wall contains rusty iron gears and other various machinery parts and just blocks from there is a wood-plank fence with several plastic animals attached by wire and string.

Maybe the key to understanding the style in this area is to notice that a lot of these yard displays are collections. A mix-matched group of blue glass bottles can always be recycled, but hanging from a large tree by thin wire cables running through the caps actually looks quite elegant. A funkier look was acheived on a typical cedar fence by screwing down rusty tricycles, Tonka trucks and kickballs along the top. Your grand- father’s golf club set that has gone unused for decades just might set off that lily patch when there are no blooms. And if you happen to have four or five manequin trunks laying around, well… you decide.

Photography by William W. Ting