Found: Let's Have a Picnic, Manitowoc, WI

Found: Let's Have a Picnic, Greetings - Manitowoc, Wis.
Published by Wyman Studio, Wausau, Wisconsin,
Mirro-Krome Card by H.S. Crocker Co., Inc. San Francisco 1, Calif. Circa 1960s

Found: First tint of Autumn, Greetings - Appleton, Wis.
Kodachrome by Sid Lane. Published by Wyman Photo Center Wausau, Wis. Dextone.
Made Direct From Kodachrome and Ansco Color by Dexter Press,  Inc. West Nyack, NY. Circa 1960s.

These watery views could be anywhere in Wisconsin, though are given a location (Manitowoc or Appleton) via  a caption that reads like a poetic turn of phrase. There are few visual cues whether the bodies of water depicted are lakes or rivers in Central Wisconsin or Eastern Wisconsin. The captions suggest time. "Let's Have a Picnic" reads as a summery message to accompany an isolated maiden leaning against a birch tree, back to the scenic view, pondering an empty picnic table on a beautiful sunny day. The surface of the Mirro-Krome "photochrome" shows delicate crackles on its once perfect "high-gloss" varnished surface imparting an eerie quality. "First tint of Autmn" seems a melancholy text accompanying an unpeopled shore sprinkled with a few autumn leaves with a vast expanse of icy blue water ahead in the fading light of day. "Greetings."

Lake Michigan Froze, Manitowoc, WI

Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, Wisconsin (2.15.2014)
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

The frigid cold seemed unrelenting in the early part of 2014. The reportage not long after this phtograph was made that Lake Michigan was more than 90% frozen (the average is 40%) according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration proved it was so.

Found: Lake Nokomis, Tomahawk, WI

Found: Lake Nokomis. Air View of Lake Nokomis, Tomahawk, Wisconsin.
Antigo Card Service, 935 Pine Street, Antigo, Wisconsin 54409. Circa 1980s.

Found: Lake Thompson, Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Antigo Card Service, 935 Pine Street, Antigo, Wisconsin 54409. Circa 1980s.

The unpeopled "air views" of lakes distributed by Antigo Card Service provide an out of body experience of verdant spaces and crystal clear blue lakes that become blue and green abstractions. It's as if it is the heavenly view without the speed boats, fishing rigs, dockside dining establishments, lake homes, and mosquitoes.

Kohler Residency, Summer 2013

Shimon & Lindemann Poplar Structure with Rambler,
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Garden & Parking Lot, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (6.29.2013)
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

We gave a series of workshops and lectures during the year leading up to our exhibition, We Go From Where We Know, at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. The workshops were part of the Connecting Communities Program and helped us meet people from around the state. In Sheboygan, we built a structure out of poplar trees harvested on our farm and installed in the Kohler Arts Center garden to serve a a trellis for beans, squash, morning glories, corn, and sunflowers we planted with friends old and new.  We talked with people about postcard imagery of Wisconsin as we all altered "found" postcards of the state. At the Wisconsin Concrete Park in Phillips, Wisconsin we all made small figural sculptures inspired by Fred Smith's glittery creations using Sculpey clay. Visitors to the ARTery continued this work by crafting gem encrusted tear drops and concrete corn cobs that became part of our "Wisconsin Reliquary" and "Nash Corn Crib" installations.

Timber Inn Motel Room, Highway 13, Phillips, Wisconsin (7.10.2013)
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

Found: River Road, Near La Crosse, WI

Found: River Road, Near La Crosse, Wis. 
From La Crosse to Prairie du Chien the motorist encounters highways of scenic grandeur,
passing in the shadow of river bluffs, then the broad majestic Mississippi, and again
beautiful vistas of the most interesting countryside.
Published by Levy's News Agency, La Crosse, Wis. Circa 1938.

The undulating landscape of Wisconsin grows more dramatic near the Mississippi River. The Great River Road follows the River over a stretch of 3,000 miles from Northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. In Wisconsin, there are remnants of native cultures, old settlements and opportunities to watch birds, experience agritourism, and take in the bluffs and hills.