In the midst of winter, in a drab urban backyard, a tree bursts dramatically into flower. Of course the flowers aren’t real and don’t belong to the tree at all. They’re part of a printed pattern on a bedspread hanging from a clothesline. Robert has created this humorous and surreal juxtaposition, a kind of visual wish fulfillment, as part of an art school class project on fences and clotheslines in the city.

Fences create boundaries, secure property lines, and organize space into functional units, such as parking areas, dog runs and gardens. Clotheslines are much more temporary and random in where they appear and what they have hanging from them. They often present homely touches in spaces that are anything but homely, which is why they cause us to smile.