The Wisconsin Project: July 2012

31.7.12

Great Clips, Madison, WI

Great Clips, Madison, Wisconsin, December 13, 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

29.7.12

Citgo Express Mart, Two Rivers, WI

Citgo Express Mart Convenience Store, Memorial Drive, Two Rivers, Wisconsin, September 28, 2010
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

28.7.12

Hotel Manitowoc, Manitowoc, WI

Historic Manitowoc Place, North 8th Street,
Manitowoc, Wisconsin, December 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Found: Hotel Manitowoc, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, copyright L. L. Cook Co. 1959

When we returned to Manitowoc to open our studio in 1989, the former Hotel Manitowoc (then the Villa Martime) had heavy metal drug traffic and people falling or jumping out of the windows. Far from the tranquil small town world we envisioned returning to. Subsequently the building was refurbished then reinvented as Historic Manitowoc Place Apartment Homes with a restaurant, 8th & York, at street level.

27.7.12

Found: "Would be glad to get a card from you too."

Found: Greetings from Sheboygan Falls, Wis., circa 1943


Found: Greetings from Sheboygan Falls, Wis., 1943

"I am collecting picture postal cards, same as you" wrote Mrs. Harold Voskuil to Mrs. Daisy Drawford. Post marked October 30, 1943 3:30 pm and mailed from Route 3, Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin to Los Angeles, California, the card contains a full personal dossier more compact than a tweet. "We work a 114 acre farm and enjoy it" which the imagery on the post card reinforces. Decades later the card provides a glimpse into an idiosyncratic existence of a farm woman in rural Sheboygan.

Chief's Inlet, Beaver Dam, WI

Chief's Inlet Knives Swords No. 1, Business 151, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, December 12, 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Chief's Inlet Knives Swords No. 2, Business 151, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, December 12, 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

25.7.12

Barn with Silo, near Brillion, WI

Barn with Silo, near Brillion, Wisconsin, 2010
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Found: Barn 1905, location unknown, circa 1907 (on Kodak Azo paper)

24.7.12

Brillion Pattern & Machine, Brillion, WI

Brillion Pattern & Machine, Brillion, Wisconsin, 2010
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

23.7.12

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, WI

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, August 9, 2010
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Found: Rice Lake, near Spooner, Wisconsin by Don Bingham, circa 1965


Found: Benoit Lake, near Spooner, Wisconsin by Don Bingham, circa 1965

Found: Mallard Lake, near Spooner, Wisocnsin by Don Bingham, circa 1965
Caption: Relax and enjoy fishing, boating or swimming on this beautiful lake in the "Fish Bowl of Wisconsin."

"I'm over lakes," pronounced a friend as we approached the picnic table situated along the Lake Michigan shore in Manitowoc. Cynics were perhaps compelled by the abundance of color lake photographs and general fawning over lake views. Such views were among the most predominant depictions of Wisconsin for decades--often featuring slogans like "the land of sky blue waters" or "Relax and enjoy fishing, boating or swiming on this beautiful lake." Lakes in the days of Medford, Wisconsin photographer Don Bingham were portrayed as spaces for recreational and visual pleasure and the staging ground of many a nostalgic memory as families retreated to their lake cottage for the summer. Twenty-first century lakes in Wisconsin, politicized by Nitrogen fertilizers, noise from Jet Skis, and over-development of the shoreline, are the primary source of drinking water for many cities. Lake Michigan, for example, supplies Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Chicago, and other cities with their water. The Great Lakes Compact established a management plan for preserving the water resource in the Great Lakes Basin as awareness of the fragility of lakes grows.

22.7.12

The Rear End, Marshfield, WI

The Rear End, Marshfield, Wisconsin, August 16, 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

21.7.12

Pier One Imports, Madison, WI

Pier 1 Imports, Highway 151, Madison, Wisconsin, December 13, 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

20.7.12

Town Tap Char Grill, Columbus, WI

Town Tap Char Grill, Columbus, Wisconsin, December 12, 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

19.7.12

Manitowoc Plumbing Supply, Manitowoc, WI

Manitowoc Plumbing Supply, York Street, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, December 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

18.7.12

Kwik Trip, Brillion, WI

Kwik Trip Stores, Highway 10, Brillion, Wisconsin, October 4, 2010
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

17.7.12

Schulz's Restaurant, Sheboygan, WI

Schulz's Restaurant, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, September 25, 2010
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

13.7.12

Found: The Demons Anvil, Wisconsin Dells, WI

Found: The Demons Anvil, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin copyright H. H. Bennett Studio, circa 1965
Verso Caption: In spite of its ominous name, the Demons Anvil holds no terror for the modern day camera fan.

H. H. Bennett (1843-1908) settled in Kilbourn City in Wisconsin. He admired the landscape and made it the focus of his photographic practice in 1865 making glass plate pictures of rock formations and the land forms along Devils Lake and the Wisconsin River so much so that he began making photographs to show it off. Kilbourn City became Wisconsin Dells and the rest is history. Were it not for Bennett's photographs, the area may have remained a secret or perhaps another river side factory town. Bennett's restored studio space. a historic site, is not to be missed at 215 Broadway in Wisconsin Dells. Operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society, his darkroom, studio set up, storefront shop are preserved as they were at the time of his death in 1908. Multi-media exhibitions tell the story of photography's relationship with the growth of tourism and Bennett's relationship with native peoples. A recent book, H. H. Bennett, Photographer: His American Landscape (University of Wisconsin Press, 2010), by Sara Rath tells his biography and reproduces his photographs.

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, WI

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, 2011
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Found: Going after big fish, Sturgeon Lake, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, circa 1910 (on Kodak Azo paper)

Lake Michigan at Two Rivers, WI

Lake Michigan, Two Rivers, Wisconsin, September 11, 2011, 9:11 am
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Found: Hartwell Resort, Crivitz, Wisconsin, circa 1909 (on Kodak Azo paper)

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, WI

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, September 5, 2011
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, WI

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, July 8, 2008
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Found: Crooked Lake, New Mountain, Wisconsin, circa 1950 (on Kodak paper)

Moonlight on Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, WI

Moonlight on Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, July 5, 2008
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Found: Superior, Wis., Moonlight on Lake Superior Bay
published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, 1907

Found: "Two Rivers -- Coolest Spot in Wisconsin"
by Curteich, Chicago, circa 1930

Found: Moonlight on Lake Geneva, from Recreation Building, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, circa 1930

Found: Moonlight on Lake Monona, Foot of Monona Avenue, Madison, Wis. by E.A. Bishop Publishing, circa 1930

Found: Moonlight on Ellison Bay, Door County, Wisconsin by Ahrens News Agency, circa 1930

Found: Moonlight on Wisconsin River, Nelson Dewey State Park, Near Prairie Du Chien, Wis. circa 1931
Caption: "...Indeed it is difficult to imagine a scene more charming than the Wisconsin River by moonlight, as the quiet waters reflect the silvery rays on the pebbled beach and along the winding shores and wooded banks."

The melancholy moon shimmering on lakes and rivers appears a common theme circa 1930. In post-Great Depression America, the faraway moon touching the landscape creates a mystic escape.

11.7.12

Found: Potato Field, WI

Found: Potato Field, location unknown, circa 1915 (on Cyko 6 paper)

Plowed Field, near Forest Junction, WI

Little Amerricka, Marshall, WI

Timeless Treasures, Manitowoc, WI

The storefront recently closed, but the favorite hipster destination has moved online.

Convent, St. Francis Church, Holland, WI

Catholic Charities, Fond du Lac, WI

10.7.12

Found: First Lutheran Church, Hayward, WI

Found: First Lutheran Church, Main Street, Hayward, Wisconsin, photographed by G.R. Brown Co., circa 1965

Masonic Lodge, Manitowoc, WI

Apartments, York Street, Manitowoc, WI

This small apartment building was razed to build a dermatology clinic in 2010

Plumbing Design Centre, Manitowoc, WI

Plumbing Design Center, N. 10th & York Streets, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, 2011

Strand Cinemas, Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Wally's Key-Lock Shop, Manitowoc, WI

9.7.12

Found: Canning Factory, Theresa, WI

Found: Canning Factory, Theresa, Wisconsin, circa 1950 (on Kodak paper)

Mirro Plant No. 15, Manitowoc, WI

The entire plant was in the demolition process in the spring of 2014.

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.