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Portfolio: "Trespassing – More Power Anyone?"
Introduction by Cees van Gemerden
 The Lax Lands, now called Bayfront Park, a seemingly attractive 28 hectare peninsula, jutting out into Hamilton Harbour, was expropriated by the City of Hamilton from the owners, Sam and Sheridan Lax in 1984. The site, thought to be an ordinary landfill, soon had to be reclassified to a toxic waste site classification requiring millions of dollars to clean up. The City, after finding out the serious extent of the contamination, wasted no time in erecting a double fence to protect itself and the public. It was early fall 1991, when I noticed fishermen on a shoreline trail beyond the fence, created by them for the purpose of fishing for fun. The trail just beyond the fence starts off mundanely as a utilitarian access to the shoreline created by and for fishermen. The trail evolves slowly, and then unexpectedly cuts through a lush diverse landscape, a quiet wild place, a trail created by the footsteps of curious children, lovers, young people looking for a private place, and solitary homeless people in search of a place to sleep. The trail ends abruptly at a hill dump site (Maple Tree versus Battery Cases).[ABOVE: Aerial view of Bayfront Park, Hamilton, Canada (formerly known as The Lax Lands). And Maple Tree Versus Battery Cases: photograph by Cees van Gemerden.] [ >>>>> FORWARD ]
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