There is a wall. It is an improvised contrivance: rough-hewn and exuberant in its amateur construction. Perhaps masons are responsible for it, though one cannot say so with certainty, when looking at the mortar, the bricks, and the insect-friendly spaces gaping with cool, musky shadows. It is an unimportant wall, largely anonymous, despite its texture and despite the two faces crowning either end of it. One may imagine that it is an all-important wall to those who live behind it. Expensive townhouses (or are they condos) rise to a moderate 3-story height. Because of the nature of this photograph, the residences were removed and replaced with the bricks of another wall. This wall tells a story; it tells numerous stories. I don’t know them yet, but I feel their collective presence. One such story (perhaps inspired by something written [once upon a time] by Borghes) is attempting to bubble to the surface. It is becoming insistent. It will soon reveal the names of characters and places. It will soon map out the course of events. It will soon give itself a name. But until then, there is this photograph. Though accurate to a degree, it is not entirely accurate. There is no brick wall behind the rougher, improvised border wall. The background bricks, implying another wall are—quite literally—another wall entirely. In the distinct reality of this photograph, the face-enhanced property dividing wall stands near Chicago Avenue, and another brick wall stands behind it. In terms of the origins of this photograph, and the literal representation: this wall stands in a city that does not exist. The background wall stands blocks and blocks away from the rougher, amateur wall. The background wall is the west-flank wall of an abandoned and derelict firehouse within walking distance of a particular Persian restaurant. Because of this, I suspect that the city defined by this image is a city quite unlike Chicago. I rather like that. I like what it says about the human ability to change things, to make things, to invent realities. If we can do this in art—to positive effect—what other possibilities exist in other elements of life. This, I think, is something worthy of exploring. As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week. Oh, and just so you'll know: this image is best viewed on full Zoom.