I was just walking along the damp streets minding my own business this morning, listening to Nina Simone's "Ne Me Quitte Pas" and quietly weeping like a total French person, when BAM! Right here on the corner of 11th Ave and Pine, at an active construction site whose demonic noises have set our teeth on edge for months now... An art exhibit. Or a show, really—they're for sale:

Why "ready to guard door"? Well, there is a dog art. (It is below the jump.) The work is bargain-priced ($30?!), made of salvaged construction materials from the building, and the wall text is super-duper. They say the money will go to the "taco/coffee fund." This is GREAT. Maybe I was just in a good mood, though? A French mood, a mood that says a surprise construction art show automatically gets some points? I sat down for an interview with resident art critic Jen Graves to see if I was off base.

I was not, it turns out. Graves, whose initial reaction was to say of the work both "Right on" and "High five," which I believe is some sort of art code. (Not completely dismissive, but certainly not embracing the concept, either.) Then we went down and viewed them together, at which point she sort of curled inward onto herself in a sort of spasm caused by adorableness/joy. Then we mused about owning an art made out of the guts of the building where you work, which seems strange and lovely. More photos (and wall text) below the jump.