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South Street, lined with pizza places, rowhouses, rastafarian shops, ethnic restaurants and alternative bars, has acquired a sort of love-hate relationship with South Philly’s residents. Sure, we claim to hate the dinginess of some of the stores and the human traffic jams on the sidewalks at 2 a.m. on a Saturday. But we can’t deny our love of the randomness of it all — the unique blend of chic, funky concert venues and dark tattoo parlors, spots that have been selling cheesesteaks since the ’40s and hookah bars, salsa clubs and dollar stores.
One of the especially random fixtures we can’t help but love is Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Sprouting out of a vacant lot about 15 years ago, it is now a mismatched labyrinth of colorful mosaics, shards of frosty glass and remnants of bicycles and crockery tucked into the craziness of the street’s 1000 block. The largest of Isaiah Zagar’s (who did the majority of the mosaics in the neighborhood) sculptural creations, the Magic Gardens is a loopy maze of images made out of colored glass, ceramic tile and stone that weaves from outside to indoors and outside again. Embedded within these patterns are lines of words that contribute to making the Gardens a place of inspiration and serenity, where visitors can be alone with their thoughts. Reading phrases such as, "I built this sanctuary to be inhabited by my ideas and my fantasies" and "Remember walking around this work of fiction" in the quietness of the garden is calming. It’s easy to forget the place sits on one of the most hectic streets in the city.
A symphony of odds and ends taken from everyday use, the Magic Gardens have grown into an urban hideaway, one that finds beauty in the city streets.
With glittering tiles and pointed pieces of clay consistent with a style seen on many of area facades (try to find the one on Marrakesh, the Moroccan restaurant in the tiny alley of Leithgow Street), the Gardens could call no other place but South Street home, as it retains the area’s reputation for being weird and daringly alternative while still being beautiful.
Nov. 1, the Gardens is holding a special event to raise funds to expand its programs and events. Although open to visitors daily, projects at the Magic Gardens have been few and far between over the years and the funds raised will hopefully get something going its labyrinth-like paths and trails.
"A Moveable Feast in the Magic Gardens" is open to the public. Though tickets are a hefty $100, the price goes down to $30 after 8:30 p.m. and every attendee receives an original print by Zagar.
Judging from Saturday night’s docket, it looks like the party will do well in melting swankiness with the laid-back. Stints by The Painted Bride’s Lenny Seidman and SCRAP Performance Group are planned along with a showing of unreleased clips from Zagar’s documentary "In A Dream," which was a sleeper-hit at this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival and recently picked up by HBO and Cinemax.
With this lineup, "A Moveable Feast" will undoubtedly fit right in with a typical Saturday night on the strip, just as the Magic Gardens’ strange mazes and beautiful, strangely created wall art have managed to embody the vibe of South Street itself: Weird, a little uncomfortable and unlike anywhere else on earth.
Something funky happening? Tell Lex C. at lexc@southphillyreview.com.
