The living room faced south. Except for one window, it was a box with vacuous white walls. The window, proudly identified by my parents as a “picture window”, occupied an entire wall. Standing outside, picturesquely assymetric in its placement, stood a large maple tree. The leaves of the tree used to turn, like ruby affectationsContinue reading “A life with things: #1 Sears Tower Erector Set”
Author Archives: twistedpreservation - F. Vagnone
Freedom of Speculation
The question in my mind is whether a natural inclination for speculation removes one to a place outside of the possibility for “doing”? At what point is the critical observer no longer able to engage in the very thing that he/she observes?
The Beauty of the Undefined
Photographs used for educational and non-commercial purposes only. “I can’t paint what I dream because I paint memorandum of my dreams…I have so many dreams about angels. I paint imitations of angels just as I imagined them. I do not paint an angel, because they come from the throne of God. We can get theContinue reading “The Beauty of the Undefined”
The frustration with professionalism, and why not to listen to me
“Faced with any new object, reason asks, ‘in which of its earlier categories the new object belongs? In which ready-to-open drawer shall we put it? With which ready-made garments shall we invest it?’ Because, of course, a ready made garment suffices to clothe a poor rationalist.” The Poetics of space, Gaston Bachelard, from Henri- LouisContinue reading “The frustration with professionalism, and why not to listen to me”
What would your historic house museum look like?
It is impossible to target just one state, one emotional moment in which we can draw a “period of interpretation”. As my videos (below) show, I am constantly changing my living environment, changing my emotional state, adding and subtracting experiences to what defines me – How would you tell your story? Which era?Continue reading “What would your historic house museum look like?”
Preservation, Demolition, Destruction, Decay and Death
Photographs used for educational and non-commercial purposes only. This is a new thread of investigation – In what ways does “preservation” help us avoid death? How does the purity of our preservation efforts directly reflect personal feelings of loss? Our world is in a continuous process of demolition (Pruitt Igo Housing demolition), destruction (ISISContinue reading “Preservation, Demolition, Destruction, Decay and Death”
The Anarchist Guide to Historic House Museums: Evaluation Methodology for Historic House Museums
The Anarchist Guide to Historic House Museums: Evaluation Methodology for Historic House Museums Franklin Vagnone, Deborah Ryan, and Olivia Cothren ‘‘Don’t you want to preserve old things?’’ ‘‘Trying to preserve a century by keeping its relics up to date is like keeping a dying man alive by stimulants.’’ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and DamnedContinue reading “The Anarchist Guide to Historic House Museums: Evaluation Methodology for Historic House Museums”
“You are an idiot!”
Moments before my lecture began, I snapped a picture of the crowd at the Thomas Cole Historic Site. This past weekend I was asked to give two public lectures in upstate New York. One was at Clermont Historic House in Germantown, NY and the other at the Thomas Cole Historic site in the nearby townContinue reading ““You are an idiot!””
Contemporary Art Happenings in Historic House Museums
Contemporary Art Happenings in Historic House Museums. F. Vagnone Presentation given at the Thomas Cole Historic Site, Catskill, NY
The destruction of the sacred
I watched the screen in disgust as the crowd began to tear apart the tree. They ripped off whole limbs with their hands and women grabbed leaves and began to stuff them inside of their jacket pockets. The mob grew larger and eventually the assault on the tree resulted in the bare trunk being pulledContinue reading “The destruction of the sacred”
Twisted Preservation 