Objects
Canyon Club, Williams, Arizona Skyline Drive-In Cinema, Old Highway 58, Barstow, California, January 2010


In the early 1960s, there were more than 4,000 drive-in cinemas in the US. But with the arrival of home video and cable TV in the 1970s and 80s, the popularity of these instantly recognisable structures waned. Unable to afford the expensive conversion to digital projection, the Skyline Drive-In Cinema closed in February 2015.


Wilson’s Dairy, Mack Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, December 2012

The cow’s head that sits on the roof of the now-vacant Wilson’s Dairy Building was sculpted to resemble ‘Elsie’, the favourite bovine of the dairy’s owner, Ira Wilson. After closing in the early 1960s the building went through a number of failed conversions, and despite its apparent restoration it has sat unoccupied since the mid- 1990s. Elsie’s relatively pristine condition can be attributed to her status as a local landmark and her appearance in the film 8 Mile (2002), the biopic of local rapper Eminem.



TV Room, Graceland, Elvis Presley Blvd, Memphis, Tennessee, December 2010


In addition to op-art graphics and assembled objects, Elvis Presley’s television room at Graceland includes three TV sets, installed to
allow simultaneous viewings of multiple broadcasts. The arrangement was inspired by Presley’s 1970 visit to the US Presidential Oval Office, which also featured multiple television screens.


Playground, Slab City, Sonoran Desert, California, November 2011

Slab City is located on the remaining concrete foundation slabs of Camp Dunlap, a now defunct training facility for the US Marine Corps constructed in the Sonoran desert during the Second World War. Since its decommissioning in 1961, the site has been occupied by an outsider community that calls it ‘the last free place on earth’.
Munson Diner, Lake Street, Liberty, New York, November 2013

In 2005, the Munson Diner was sold and relocated 100 miles from its Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood to the town of Liberty, where it was added to the US National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1945 by the Kullman Dining Car Company, the diner survives as a relic of accelerated construction methods and materials – prefab components, riveted steel-framing, fluted ceramic panels, stainless steel and Formica. Since relocating, the diner has passed through the hands of four owners – all have gone bankrupt.

Wigwam Motel, West Hopi Drive, Holbrook, Arizona, September 2007

The Wigwam Motel was built in 1950 using a patented design that rendered Native American motifs as one-bedroom concrete teepees. The motel closed in 1974, with the opening of Interstate 40, which bypassed Holbrook and effectively made Route 66 redundant. In 1986 the Wigwam reopened. It has been listed as Wigwam Village #6 on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002.

Ice Rink, Grossinger’s Catskills Resort Hotel, Liberty, New York, November 2013

The annual World Barrel-Jumping Championships at Grossinger’s were broadcast live on national television. After circling the ice rink in an effort to gather speed, contestants would attempt to clear a stack of wooden barrels that increased with every successful vault. In 1975 the American Jim Papreck set the world record, clearing 18 barrels with a leap of 29’4”.

Paul G. Building, Grossinger’s Catskills Resort Hotel, Liberty, New York, November 2013

Prada Marfa, Valetine, Texas

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