The Wisconsin Project: Found: The Peace Pipe, Wisconsin Dells, WI

24.11.12

Found: The Peace Pipe, Wisconsin Dells, WI

Found: THE PEACE PIPE. When white men first explored this region, they found it inhabited by several Indian tribes,
one of which was the Winnebago. A remnant of this tribe is still found in the Dells country"
copyright by H. H. Bennett Studio, Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
genuine Curteich-Chicago, C.T. American Art post card, circa 1908 (reprinted 1930s)

Found: UNITED STATES FUR FACTORY - 1 816. Villa Louis, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
This diorama portrays the fur factory established in Prairie du Chien in 1816 with John W. Johnson as factor
and John P. Gates as interpreter. These fur factories or stations were erected at strategic points.
Here the U.S. Government supplied a side range of goods to the Indians and received from them
furs, feathers, lead and maple sugar. Color by J. A. Fagan, Fagan Publishing Co., Madison, Wis., circa 1970.

Novel portrayals of Wisconsin Native Americans date mainly to the late 1800s to mid-20th century until a reframing of the issues at last bubbled up in the white American consciousness. Driven from their homeland of Wisconsin literally in railroad cards, many natives returned on foot to the rivers and lakes of Wisconsin that had provided sustenance for generations. The "Peace Pipe" card text above refers to the "tribes" as a "remnant....still found in the Dells Country." The diorama illustrates natives receiving a "wide range of goods" (steel tips for arrows, cooking utensils, guns) for furs, feathers, lead, and maple sugar. The 21st century observer is left knowing it was not a fair trade.

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THE WISCONSIN PROJECT

Our research-driven Wisconsin Project contemplates the rooted-ness and state-of-mind resulting from inhabiting a single place, our native Wisconsin, for a long time. Through critiquing postcard views both made and found, we learn a great deal about past and present Wisconsin. We began making postcard views of the places immediately around our studio and on our drives around Wisconsin in about 2008. We use the vintage postcard film format and print the cards in palladium and cyanotype. By communicating details of a specific place, seeming to register only marginally on the national radar, the project seeks to bring audiences into a Wisconsin mental space. Some in the art world would argue that the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, makes for banal “fly over” subject matter. Our project challenges that by finding meaning in the ordinary and inviting audiences to examine, dialog, and reflect on the particular emotional quality of the idiosyncrasies of place and the perceptions of those both inside and outside of it. Sometimes distant memories are involved and a longing for a time now gone. Wisconsin’s glacier inflected landscape and proximity to the Great Lakes creates an exotic arena for living that informs our project. The life cycle plays out and rural and urban ruins serve as monuments to existences as people, places, and ideas surface then vanish. Ultimately, we aim to grapple with complex perceptions of Wisconsin ranging from nostalgic, romantic, and idealized--as depicted on myriad real photo postcard and standard tourist postcards--to mysterious, dark, and Gothic as conveyed in works of art and literature such as Michael Lesy's "Wisconsin Death Trip" book and Werner Herzog's "Stroszek" film. The project culminated in a residency with workshops and community collaborations and the installation "We Go From Where We Know" at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center 10.13.2013-3.7.2014 and later the Harvestore Bandshell for Fermentation Fest in 10.2014. The blog continues the exploration of postcards.