November 17, 2004
digital echoes of amsterdam
Reading about how much fun everyone apparently had at Design Engaged got me thinking about my last trip to Amsterdam. I was wandering through the old Stedelijk Museum in a pleasantly vibratory mental state, looking at an exhibit of b&w photographs of industrial buildings, when I came across this image and it recognized me:
I was quite unprepared for this, some kind of weird experiential hyperlink, connecting back into my own memories...I knew H-O OATS, had been on that very road in Buffalo, NY, had seen that monstrous building and gaped at it, but not for what, 30 years? And now, to find a piece of my life hanging in a gallery in Amsterdam? It gave me such a twitchy feeling I wanted to scream, but mindful of museum decorum, I just took the picture instead.
Anyway remembering that strangeness, I did a bit of googling tonight and found some interesting stuff. First, the Library of Congress has this American Memory project, and they've got some H-O OATS in there. Also, I learned the exhibit I saw in 2002 was by the photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, who seem to be quite well-known for their work. Oh, and I found out they have books, including two rather good looking ones I just bought: Industrial Landscapes and Typologies of Industrial Buildings. Gawd I love the Internets.
So I wonder if that grain elevator is still there. In Buffalo in 2004, I mean.
So I wonder how one might go about encoding an experiential hyperlink.
Update: It's still there but they are going to knock it down.