Public Toilet (Toilet in Public???)

 A few weeks ago this 'object' appeared on the median sidewalk of the 200 block of East North Ave right outside of the Public School Administration building.  I drove by it many times until finally on Wednesday February 9, 2011 I could ignore my curiosity no longer and I stopped to investigate.

As it appears it is in fact toilet.  It has been collaged with business cards, newspaper articles, certified mail  receipts, a postcard from Vegas, a picture of Bill Clinton, a gift certificate from 'Shorty's Underground Ribs and it includes a shoe shine kit. I'm not sure if this was a piece of art or not, the decoupage technique was a bit raw and the tape holding everything on did not appear to be archival.

 My first thought was that that it was a memorial to someone but I couldn't find any connection amongst the imagery. It seemed to be a completely random gathering of papers, almost as if someone had cleaned out a drawer but the shoe shine kit puzzled me. So I thought maybe someone was running a shine business on North Ave. but a toilet with no seat s hardly a comfy situation, and all of the reading material has become permanently attached so that's no good.

Note the fake money in the bowl...

So my final diagnosis is... This is a sweet piece of Baltimore folk art created by a passionate, tortured individual for some unknown reason and placed very purposefully in a high traffic spot. This gift and all of it's mysteries were bestowed upon our fair city for as long as DPW would ignore. Sadly it was removed the day after I took these photos. We may never know who the artist is and sometimes I think it's better that way.