Just recently I wound up over at the B&I Public Market Place shopping for accessories. B-Boy chain, monogrammed ball cap and an especially blingy giant watch were a few of the wonders I managed to acquire. When it comes to shopping I’m a wimp. My sensitive constitution makes todays sprawling malls an overwhelming nightmare, but for some reason the B&I speaks to me. This Public Market Place has always been an enigma. It was established in the mid 1950′s and existed as a social hub of South Tacoma for may years. One part carnival and one part shopping center, it is a melting pot of entertainment and vendors. Although I never experienced the B&I in it’s prime the stories I have heard only deepen it’s mystery. This place still echoes of the american dream. A place where vendors exhibit a style and personality that can’t be found within the sterility of today’s shopping malls. The individual shops and haphazard layout make the shopping experience more like an adventure in comerce wilderness than the helpless sensation of cold calculating retail domination.
Time has forgotten the B&I, now it is more of a cultural archive, than a bustling market, a faded shadow of its former self. Photographer Garry Lappier captures these shadows and more in his up coming show titled Sent From Some Where Else. These Black & White Photographs were Taken during his artist residency at the B&I Public Market last year. Gary offers us a brief glimpse of the inner workings of this South Tacoma landmark, where once you could gobble penny candy while bonding with a live gorilla named Ivan.
You n’ I and The B&I – Stories of a Tacoma-Moment
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E-mail us your B&I story through this link. My Great B&I Story. We look forward to your submissions -Fulcrum Gallery
Source: You n’ I and the B & I
Category: Social Commentary, art, b&i, culture, phptpgraphy, tacoma