Buddy’s Calling is an installation in the SCAT Gallery showcasing a nearly-daily documentation of the life of Buddy’s Diner, a car diner on Washington Street in Somerville. Just like the menus at the diner, the photos are on paper plates, as if they were the special of the day.
David Hebb is a longtime commercial archeologist and photographer who has been documenting the American roadside diners, signs, gas stations, movie theaters and motels. He also supports his subjects by patronizing them which is how he has become a regular customer at Somerville’s Buddy’s Diner, which is the feature subject of this exhibition.
Hebb has also been featured in the Atlas Abscura Documentary, The Sign Project, a film which documents the molded polyurethane signs produced by the Signtronix Company, directed by Sarah Ginsberg.
“After Ana Lindo had been working at the diner for about three weeks, she asked me, “why do you come here so often?’ I responded, ‘I can replace the food but not the experience.’ The ‘Buddy’s experience is what we are trying to illustrate with this exhibition and our documentary, Buddy’s Calling. You come in for a good meal but there is a good experience to be had.”
An opening for Buddy’s Calling will be held Oct. 1, 4-6 p.m., at the SCAT Gallery, inside the Somerville Media Center at 90 Union Square, Somerville.
