We are living in a modern society with countless rules, regulations, and social norms.
It's very rare to find a community that's "free" nowadays - where people can live however they want, without laws or limitations.
Welcome to Slab City - the "last free place on earth" !
In Southern california, there is a campsite called slab city where people are living freely, off the grid.
The artists have created art installments like the Salvation mountain and East Jesus, representing the local culture and supportive community.
Slab City
Slab City is located close to Niland, California and is a free campsite and alternative living community.
The people here live without electricity and running water - but instead, there are no mortgages to pay either. Everyone lives their own way of life.
Originally, the location of Slab city used to be an old WWII base, Marine Barracks Camp Dunlap, and the name originated from the slabs of concrete that remained of the old military names.
Slab City is also often nicknamed the last "lawless" city of the US and the "last free place on earth" - because this community is off the grid, it's a way to live separately from society.
A small group of people from all over the world lives here year-round, but the population is ever-changing as most people come here during the winter and only stay for a few months.
Most of the people living in Slab city are either retirees or victims of poverty and homelessness.
This place offers them a social community and activities a golf course, sculpture garden, live music stages, social clubs and a community library.
Salvation Mountain
Salvation Mountain is an art construct located at the entrance of Slab City.
It was created by "slabber" and artist Leonard Knight, who worked on the "mountain" for over 25 years.
He created it from adobe, straw, and thousands of gallons of lead-free paint, and covered it in positive religious messages like "God is Love".
The Christian artist was spreading God's message of love with hot air ballons, but after the balloons had failed several times in this remote location near the salton sea, he got inspired to get active in a different way.
Knight knew that God wanted him to continue spreading his positive message of love.
Salvation mountain has become quite a popular attraction around Niland and was even featured in moves like "Into the Wild".
Leonard Knight passed away a few years ago but his work is being honored and sustained to keep the spirit of the project alive.
Salvation Mountain is a literal man-made mountain 28 years in the making, covered in half a million gallons of latex paint. What started as a small monument made of dirt and painted cement became, over time, a sprawling adobe and hay-bale mountain complex, with peripheral structures made of telephone poles, tires, and car windows, as well as art cars and sculptures, all painted in a patchwork of stripes and color blocks of whatever paint was donated that week.— Aaron Huey, National Geographic
East Jesus
'East Jesus' is a sculpture garden located within Slab City.
The founder of East Jesus, Charlie Russell, originally came to Slab City to work together with Knight.
He quickly got fascinated by the idea of Slab City being the "last free place on earth", quit his job, packed all his belongings, and started creating sculptures to create his two car art pieces.
Russel's vision was to create a sustainable, habitable, ever-changing art installation, mostly from discarded materials that were repurposed, reused or recycled.
The name East Jesus doesn't actually hold religious meaning, it's a colloquialism for the middle of nowhere beyond the edge of services.
East Jesus encourages visitors to imagine a world without waste in which every action is an opportunity for self-expression. Assemblage and mixed-media art covers nearly every inch of the interior and exterior of the operations and hospitality facilities. Sculptures and installations are constantly in development throughout the campus. East Jesus is a living, growing, and ever-changing artwork that embraces the varied voices of the thousands of contributing artists who have added to the installation in the past and will continue to do so in the future. The primary purpose of the curators and the artists in residence is to maintain and protect this unique collaborative canvas for the enjoyment, expression, and inspiration of artists of all mediums.
Slab City definitely is one of the most unique locations in the world. It's off-the-grid, "lawless", and the "last free place on earth".
Would you like to visit Slab City ?
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Wow, that is very cool! I have never heard of this place! I think this was in a music video I saw but I cannot remember which one it was....
Yes that's very likely, it's a popular location for photo- or video shoots
Check out this link to their site: http://eastjesus.org/east-jesus-survival-guide/
This is quite interesting. To think you can just go off the grid. Crazy. I'd love to get off the grid but then I couldn't Steem.
Hahaha, true! I'd definitely need an Internet connection!
very interesting city.
the area where the photo was taken
Yes, the area is called slab city
Wow... never heard of this place! Thanks for bringing to my attention. I would love t visit just out of curiosity and photo opportunities.
Yes I think it would be such an interesting place to visit!
I saw a 16mm film of this on youtube, it looks amazing in 16mm (everything does imo).
Here's the video if anyone's interested, absolutely beautiful, the song is Our Window by Noah And The Whale if anyone wants to know that too.
Great post, thanks.
Beautiful video! I like the Vintage style.
Yeah, it made me want a 16mm, they're actually pretty cheap on Ebay, it's the film processing that's expensive.
Never heard of this place before, but it sounds interesting. Reminds me a bit of the "Christiania FreeTown" which is something similar (but quite different) that has existed within the city of Copenhagen since 1971.
Very cool! I would love to visit. I appreciate the post.
I don't want to visit, but I have always been intrigued by it. I saw a show that featured it some years back.
I watched a vlogger, that lived in his RV and documented his travels. He had lived in slab city and said it was really rough. I think I will take his word for it.
Very interesting, I had never heard about this place.
Thanks for sharing. I remember watching a documentary about this place back in the day. Pretty cool.
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It is a great honor for me to follow you too
I agree.
Slab City reminds of Christiania in Copenhagen :) I would love to visit it and get of the grid for a couple of weeks. Not for longer, though.
What do people do in Christiana?
Christiania is a colorful, hippie, car-free neighborhood in Copenhagen :) You can read more about it here: http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/culture/alternative-christiania
Yeah makes sense! 😀 😃 😄 I think there are some in South Africa too. Do they have their own currency?
have YOU actually visited the place? maybe use your steem money to make a voyage out there :)
that place is so isolated but i think its fun to be there
Wow... never heard of this place! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Please follow and upvote me
It reminds me of that huge car lot in the latest Transformers movie. Thanks so much for this. I hope you have a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL day!!! 😄 😁 😆 I am resteeming, linkedining, fbing, tweeting this!
Very cool! Colorful.
This place was in Into the Wild. Seemed really cool to hit on a road trip. Any extended stay would be problematic for me.
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very interesting place! should visit it ;-)
wow amazing!
I have heard a lot about Slab city but I have never checked it out myself.
oh yeah, Slab City is super awesome and a great day drive from L.A. If you go there, be sure to talk to DR. Spencer. Youc ant miss his house. the sign says 77777 as you drive up the road, before the T. we took some photos last weekedn while we were there ... https://steemit.com/travel/@herronryan/the-2018-slab-city-and-salton-sea-extravaganza-in-pictures