Some artists are always on the lookout for abandoned construction projects or buildings that the owners leave empty after they can’t afford to live in them, pay for the maintenance, or taxes. Developers start projects and run out of funding because their backers pull out or the economy goes into the ditch. Sometimes the developer never had the intention of finishing the job, or their backers pull out, someone gets hurt on the project, or they cannot get the necessary permits, or are in jail. The spaces feel haunted, empty, full of echo; sometimes remaining features contain remnants of stories of people you imagine lived there or worked there. Other times the empty incomplete shells contain pieces of possibilities, grand dreams for the imagined future never realized.

Ekta (photo © Shai Dahan)

Shai Dahan spent some sweet time with his Swedish homies Ekta and Ollio painting and pasting and exploring one sunny recent afternoon at a secret hidden location deep in the woods of “Smorgasland’, as Shai calls it. This abandoned spot has some nice grey industrial concrete that will add to the character of the pieces as the structure decays, molds, rusts, rots, is overgrown and overtaken by the trees and moss. Here are some new shots of the finished pieces exclusively to BSA readers.

Ekta (photo © Shai Dahan)

Shai Dahan (photo © Shai Dahan)

Shai Dahan (photo © Shai Dahan)

Ollio (photo © Ollio)

Ollio (photo © Ollio)

Ollio (photo © Ollio)

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