Kim Stringfellow San Mateo, California, b. 1963

Kim Stringfellow’s Garner Homestead US Patent No. 1161913 (2006) is a photograph of a structure built as part of the Small Tract Act of 1938 where the government offered a lease of five acres of land on which citizens would build in the desert of Southern California. The only requirement for the structures was that they be a livable dwelling. Many any used their homes for vacationing or for recreation. Located along the California State Highway 62, over time, some people formed communities and others left. Of the people that left, their structures have succumbed to the elements. In this image, light pours through the large horizontal window and all the small openings in the dilapidated structure. The bumper sticker on the refrigerator states, “Weight Watchers are Losers,” a sentiment brought by the same kind of person who would want to leave the complications of modern life for a simpler experience in the desert.