A scant month after we returned home from Alaska and San Nicolas, we were off again, walking by the tile mural below at LAX again, considering all of that air travel and the carbon footprint we have contributed to the only place we can live (that we know of, at least). Actually, we were mostly thinking about the excitement of meeting up with friends, old and new, in the south (Georgia and Alabama) to see art/wonders old and new (to us) in celebration of a couple of February bdays
LAX colors up there, ATL colors down there
After getting scooped up by new friends from Nashville at the Atlanta airport, we took to the Georgian back roads with our sights set on Buena Vista, in the Southwestern part of the state. We enjoyed all of the small town beauty/charm along the way and opted to indulge in the overly-salty treat of canned boiled peanuts from a gas station (zero stars. wouldn't recommend it). I had to wait until we got into the (kinda) good light of our housing for the next few nights in Buena Vista to get a photo of new friend Sarah's incredible jean jacket embroidery
Our Beeyuna Vista digs (yes, that is how the locals pronounced Buena)
Dimly lit Pasaquan inspired drawings on the way to the pizza parlour
Then, fully into our pizza party in the land of Pasaquan
Back alley strolling with bellies full of dough
Nell! The best flat dawg there ever was. Lovely to meet you, miss
Got up, then over to the newly painted kaleidoscope brightness of Pasaquan that probably hasn't been that way since the good Saint was alive. Maybe not even then, because he didn't have toilet-millions of Kohler being spent on him or his creations at that point in time. When the idea was floated that we join this Southern ramble, we jumped at the chance, especially to see the house and holdings of St EOM restored from the fairly pitiful conditions we had seen seven years previously.
M points out
spider boogs
We'd enough of milling about on the perimeter and thus, made our way to the interior
Just inside the front gate, looking back at wave patterns/face patterns. Overwhelming displays to get lost within
A flat dog peers out while I foot selfie
Backside of the front facing sentinels
Amongst the oranges browns and reds, not the first beans/franks we would see, certainly not the last. Excellent world building, EOM
It was really shocking to behold, that restoration work
Walls and patterns of the inner world of EOM made outer
Flat dog, flat dog friend
One of the many pathways, brightly colored
Getting basically all new information than what we'd remembered from the last visit. Blue jacket guy was a well spoken scholar (versus the local housewife that we'd had upon our previous visit. Each had their own benefits/charms).
Gorgeous details to behold everywhere
I remember this particular end of a snake being not much more than a protruding, rusty
More scenes from the mindscape of St EOM...Just astonishing what a difference seven years made. Said it before, and I'll probably keep saying it. Bear with me
Requisite mandala portraits
Dance pit!
And more details and colors to appreciate
More beans n franks, excellently rendered. Just going with what he knew
The radical nature of the man and his creations in rural southern Georgia are hard to comprehend, appreciate
xthaere (M's bag) and quan, together at last. Creating worlds in which we want to inhabit
The other side of a very ornate shed, the inside was a lot more function, a bit less fashion
Seven years since our last sojourn to Pasaquan (see? here we go again). We probably took very similar pictures to the ones below and above way back then, minus the vibrant colors and new dimensions they brought to that work
When we think about rural Georgian environs, these are the first images that come to mind. What a gift
Circle steps in brown
Oval up
Oval down
In progress
and praying to the toilet g-ds to be whole again
Somehow, a more familiar G-d plays a part in that larger cosmology/dream world
Painstakingly leaving things the way they were. No paint for nose room
Circling back from whence we came, getting more context to the protective suit this pillar 'quan is wearing
Corner girl, come hithering
Brighter browns on something I know for sure I took a photo of last time
Eom-donger and upwards hair that has something to do with connection to the spirit world
A few more colors and patterns to appreciate
Thank you, St. Eom. Your work endures forever (or at least as long as the toilet money flows). I wonder how different it will look the next time we see it. I wonder how different we will look the next time we see it. We said our goodbyes to that special corner of Georgia
And then crossed over the stateline into Alabama, to check out the drive-thru museum and hope that we could gain entrance to the Butch Anthony compound shortly thereafter.
The world's first drive thru museum, I should say
One of the first of so very many skeleton-ized people to consider. Aside from style points, is this all a nod to our shared endpoint?
I've been asking this myself, in general, but also as it concerns Mr. Anthony. Something having to do with opportunity, being raised in the rural south and...being a white dude?
Double duck, strange but true
Fiji mermaid hellworld diorama
Curious taxidermy
The majority of the museum, with a lil peeking in thru one of the windows
Yours truly and an ol'bone
She got the money
Selfie economic stimulus
Mr. Bacon hangin in the higher reaches of the museum
Silhoue-Ted and the proper flag position for this brave new era of idiocy we've entered
We got the call/go ahead into the BA compound and thus, wiggled our way back to our transportation and over to the BA compound
Via the mighty Museum of Wonder
What wonder. How did the supreme leader make it to Seale Alabama?
Variation on a theme
New territory tentacles
Good one. Probably shoulda bought it
Its a lifestyle
Proto-joker
Back to front, SKELETON
'nuther selfie opp taken. How embarassing
Then Butch brought out a car that used to belong to Les Blank, or so the story goes
The license plate says loser, but all those trophies...
...along with that smile say winner. I get it now,
I wonder if it gets any road miles
Butch documenting the femme-scene
Me documenting the femme-Anthony scene. What a crew. Felt deeply blessed to be a part of it
Barnside gallery
The more we spoke with the man, the more he showed us of his holdings. We made it inside this, the house of Anthony
Shockingly, there was this inside
And this as well. If it ain't broke...
Some deck-greenery out back
To the right of which resides a dream for our future life, outdoor bath/shower
A few more innards views of the house of BA
Backyard view
This is how he ends another day in his kingdom
Well done and thank you for yr time
Before we left, BA brought us over to the house of Mr. Toney, someone who has lived on the Anthony compound for the majority of his life (from what I could tell) which leaves me to wonder as to his relationship with the Anthony family
Dood is a prolific artist in his own right
And drove a hard bargain for his artwork. BA was loving the show
Back in the house of wonder for one last look 'round, found this photo of a young BA. Seale roots go deep!
Night fell, but we still wanted to haaaang
Butch obliged, regaling us with tales of his quest to navigate all of the waterways of Alabama and also of the Doo Nanny Festival. From the sounds of it, seemed like a great time.
Bye, for now, Mr Anthony. Thank you for your time
We tried to get BA to join us for dinner that evening, but he declined, stating that he doesn't go to "town" very often
We spotted this for sale at a few of the gas stations we stopped at. Twas at this one that we asked what exactly it was. That question launched us into a store-wide discussion about its role in the lives of pregnant women, leading us to believe that there is some sort of mineral deficiency among the population of souther Georgians. They get this clay substance from the nearby hills and all of the women of the gas station confirmed that they craved it while pregnant, one of which said that she ate so much of it that her child came out covered in white durt.
Rode back to Atlanta with a newly purchased Anthony betwixt us
The next day, we continued the environment tour with just the two of us. We drove up to the North Eastern corner of Georgia to see Howard Finster's Paradise Garden.
The man himself, digital memory
This zone had long been on our to go to list. We didn't realize the state of disrepair of it all, though. We learned that Finster devoted the majority of the latter part of his life to painting, the majority of which are now in the collections of art institutions and left the Paradise Gardens to the elements for the most part.
We explored the decay for awhile, shifting our thinking to a Purifoy model of artwork
I hope so!
The various sides of a
Marb'd Finster
A few steps back
Always a fan of bottle walls
A little chapel out of the empties
Up to a Kusama installation
No lines to wait in in order to take our selfies
Big J and his momma, cement beings
Back to ATl, soul veg!
The next day we walked the Doll's Head Trail and felt the uneasy vibes of it all
I hope so! (Part two)
Creep factor, fairly high
Woke!
Mystery gunk, non GMO
My favorite of the dolls
Pointing the way, but to what?
We left the....to get back into the city herself, specifically to lower levels in search of
another piece of the xthaere
The Tehachapi, their sphaltways and the desert. It all felt very close to home
Ate an incredible ice cream sandwich from one of the businesses about it
Sugar joy, in the light
From that history, we snapped back into linear history.
The MLK national historic site occupies a few blocks of that city, and we endeavored to engage with it. First, we visited a museum wherein we spotted these various images of the reverend doctor himself. If you will turn your attention to the photo below and notice the man directly behind MLK. If/when you have a chance, watch this about him and refine your understanding of the movement just a bit. I remember talking with one of the docents of this museum, asking him where the hotel is where MLK was assasinated. He looked at me sternly and said "son, that is in Memphis." I've rarely felt more embarrassed by my ignorance. We moved on
A rare (for me, at least) photo of the man, looking dapper and flanked by the military
The church wherein the reverend doctor attended and learned and eventually preached himself
This one
Tunnel of a life well lived
Just kept thinking about how this country didn't deserve his goodness and how we've yet to live up to what he thought this country capable of
And here we find Mr Rustin, again. Seriously, watch that doc and read up on the man
The Lorrain hotel, not in Atlanta. I think I knew that before I embarrassed myself, but maybe that's just the story I tell myself now
This one
More things to research!
From there, we moved on, over to this place
Dedicated to the man on the right
Although I did not live during his presidency, and am admittedly ignorant to a lot of the ins and outs of that presidency, I can't help but admire the man nonetheless. It feels like most of what I read about him before, during and after his presidency points to him being a very stand up individual, someone who deeply loves humanity. Again, I'm probably quite naive about the man. Visiting the presidential library of someone that decent and seemingly human-centered on the first presidents day of this new, dumb era we are living in was certainly not lost on us. Plus, just look at that high kick below!
Peanuts!
We are a country of ideals never met
Peanut ephemera selfie
We spent our final night in the south at the magic house, to see old friends
and new!
Young Akira was holding court very soon into our visit
Jesse, Akira and Tania! Anaiis was elswhere
Such an incredible evening with lovely poeple. Magic house, indeed!
Akira seems to get his conversation moves from his papa
The next morning, huge trunk dog time before breakfast before our flight back West
Up into the light
Of my thirty second year
Thanks to thee, St Eom as well Butch Anthony for your imagined worlds. Thanks also to: boiled peanuts, white durt and friends both old and new for deepening our appreciation of our southern states.
