The Wisconsin Project: Found: Barless Bear Den, Milwaukee, WI

16.9.13

Found: Barless Bear Den, Milwaukee, WI

Found: Barless Bear Den, Washington Park, Milwaukee, Wis.
Rising 13 to 18 ft., the walls of irregular naturalistic formation, have at the base a moat 15 ft. wide, scarcely visible from the public walk. The bears standing on the extreme edge of the moat stare at the crowds only some 18 ft. distant. Unique groups of Polar, Grizzly, Black Bears, and Wolves here enjoy practical freedom. The swimming pool is 15 x30 ft. An inner den, 7x10 ft. is provided for sleeping and hibernating.
Published by The L.L. Cook Co. and E.C. Kropp Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin circa 1920s

The bears of Milwaukee once existed in a simulated natural landscape while spectators,
empowered by a 15 foot moat, ogled them from afar at the Washington Park Zoo. After seeing Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man, this scene takes on sinister overtones though the sender of this card saw the barless bear den as visual proof of Milwaukee's dynamism:
"Having a wonderful time here. A big and growing city.
Weather nice and warm. Edith Allard"
Post marked August 24, 1953

No comments:

Post a Comment

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.