2 posts tagged “durham”

To mark the final day of George W. Bush in the White House, I'm premiering a unique work of art on Monday, January 19.

"Legacy" is a black and silver monoprint of Bush which will be installed on a construction dumpster outside the Venable Center in Durham. When Bush leaves office the next day, the print will be stripped off and tossed in with the rest of the debris.

This piece will only exist for 24 hours (if that), so come on down to the corner of Roxboro and Pettigrew Streets -- and bring extra shoes in case you get the urge throw something at Bush's "Legacy."  

JP Trostle: "Legacy", 2009
Black toner on adhesive foil, 11" x 5"
on the south end of a metal dumpster, 7' x 20'

(The construction bin is located in between the two buildings that make up the Venable Center, and just outside of the offices of The Independent Weekly. Parking is available at a a small lot off of Roxboro or a larger lot off of Pettigrew.)

One of the things we loved about the Triangle when we moved here 7 years ago was the number of used book and record stores. Given that we left an area which had virtually none it was a huge step up, and we spent a lot of time and money in Books Do Make A Room, Reader's Corner and all three Nice Price Books.

As I got further into the publishing biz we had a pretty heavy churn of books, so once a year or so we'd load up the trunk with boxes and bags of books we no longer had room for and make a day of travelling to all the stores to see what we could trade. With the money problems we've had the last few years (and the lack of shelf space!) I began asking for cash instead of store credit. Believe me, for a book lover, it wasn't my first choice.

In making the rounds I always gave Durham's Nice Price Books first shot, not just because they were close but 'cause I believe in supporting as many local businesses as possible -- I always went to them first when I was looking to buy -- but after a couple of persnickity run-ins with the staff there, they quickly became my last stop, so it didn't sour the whole day.

And now I'm done. When I stopped by this afternoon, the dude behind the counter barely glanced at the books I had (and didn't even look at the CDs) and said he wasn't buying, only trade. That was fine, but in the next 10 minutes he offered at least 2 other customers money or credit for music they brought in -- and then when I found a couple of CDs and offered a CD swap, he looked at me and sneered "We have too many CDs already. We'd rather you spend money here."

Not quite sure what set Capt. Crankypants off -- maybe he didn't get the candy he wanted last night trick or treating --  but it was the final straw. Hey, even though the weird guys over at Books Do Make A Room have never bought anything from me, for either cash or store credit, they were never rude about it.

Look, I know the publishing biz is a bitch, and given the crappy economy the local used book stores are feeling a wee bit overrun by folk trying to unload stuff, but I also know this sort of thing ebbs and flows -- and I know when our situation finally changes, the money won't be flowing to Durham's Nice Price ever again.

Maybe it's only one dickhead behind the counter (the staff at the Chapel Hill and Raleigh store have always been great, whether they're buying or not), but I suspect I'm not the only customer he's chased off.