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Arizona/New Mexico Snapshots
Michael Kluckner, 2013
Some snapshots with the cellphone camera of other people's artwork and
architecture (not the motel and neon stuff on Route 66 – that's a
different pop-up on the main page)
(Above) Two reproduced Santa Fe railway posters that I snapped
in the lobby of the Old Santa Fe Inn. I tried to find a book of
posters but came up empty (although there are a few in the book Santa
Fe – The Chief Way by Strein, Vaughan and Richards). They are
probably from the 1920s-40s, originally commercial silkscreens, and
their design is driven by the limitations of the medium – i.e. a small
number of flat colours – as in tourist posters done in places like
Canada (for the Canadian Pacific Railway) and Australia. A style I
love.
(Below) What I did find eventually was a set of cards of national
parks, all made from silkscreen posters commissioned by the
Depression-era Works Progress Administration. They are published by Ranger
Doug, "the Ranger of the Lost Art" har har. Most were by unknown
artists; however, the one below, reproduced with permission, was by
Frank S. Nicholson.
A sculpture made of coloured light tubing, one of a myriad beasts and
flowers in the fabulous Christmas light display at the Albuquerque
botanical garden. We were there too late to see them illuminated but
regardless found them fascinating as designs. Next year, maybe....
Old garage door in Bisbee, Arizona
Hillary Clinton Tribute Car in Bisbee, Arizona
Theatre in Albuquerque (on old Route 66 aka Central Avenue) – the
Kimo is said to be an excellent example of "Pueblo deco"
Kitsch in a store window in Sedona, the crystal and crap capital of
Arizona
Old buildings in Socorro, New Mexico, a town all but abandoned to
highway-strip mall commerce
(Above) Café paint job in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Formerly
known as Hot Springs, it changed its name in response to a 1950
challenge, by the host of the famous radio show, to broadcast from any
town that would change its name to Truth or Consequences. Just to
prove it, see the photo below. All this should not be too surprising,
as the town is in the same general area as Roswell, the UFO and
extraterrestrial centre.
Adobe-style home and vintage Volvo (think "The Saint") in the
Spruce Park Historic District, Albuquerque
Text © Michael Kluckner, 2013