How did this start? It was way back in 2009.
Back then, I spent quite a few weekends digging around in "junkyards". To a guy like me, these places were more than just a resting place for junk or even scrap metal. They were time capsules. Before we got all worried about the environmental consequences of leaving a 4,000 pound piece of metal with all kinds of refined petroleum products in a field, that's exactly what happened. Sure, maybe if the gas tank was full, the guys would siphon it out as best as they could so the tow truck they used to push and pull the junk cars to their final resting spot could run for another couple of days. The drained oil might work for a heating system or maybe just to lubricate an old piece of machinery. This time, I was out to find a power seat motor for my 1960 Oldsmobile. The Cadillac and Oldsmobile shared a lot of parts. The dimensions of the '69 Caddy. I stumbled upon the 1969 Sedan DeVille. The doors were somewhat difficult to manage. The snow/soil had piled over the rocker panels. A dent on the driver side front door made it impossible to open it. So, I decided I had to go through the back door. (logically) Like jumping into a dumpster, I pried the rear driver side door open, climbed in. Thank gosh it was Winter. The mold, wasp nests etc inside this car. Tons of rust on the seat frame made me decide that even if the motor on the seat was there, I didn't want to get involved with a rebuild. As I backed out of the front seat past the contents of the back seat, I saw this blue box. Sort of like the type you would put brochures in or maybe some kind of learning program booklet system. There were old catalogs from the early 60's. Miles Kimball company still in Oshkosh WI, Pipes and tobacco, wine etc. The most interesting pieces were the canceled/bounced checks from people in the Dane/Jefferson County area. Some of the checks had a full profile of the person that wrote the check. Height, weight, hair color, race, eye color, phone no. and sometimes their address. If that wasn't enough, there were a small group of 35mm color slides of a scene inside of a night club. This will later serve as a source for story content. More interesting, the checks were written to an entertainment promotion company, Rainbow Entertainment. Rainbow Entertainment promoted bands at a club called the Spectrum. Also included in the box, the "Protect-o Plate" for the Cadillac. Cars used to come with a credit card size piece of plastic that had the new owner's information on it. That way, when the person would bring their car in for service, the service team would just "swipe" the protect-o plate at the top of the work order. It kept the information consistent. The owner, Jack, turns out to be quite the colorful character. I will get in to more about Jack and the Spectum night club on my next entry.
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Dan Kirchen
A bit of insight to the creation of this installation. Archives
August 2018
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