Thursday, August 15, 2019

In Search Of Clarence's Magic Garden

You'd think everywhere was somewhere on the internet, wouldn't you? An article, a photograph, a reference, a reminiscence ... something. Yet the only mention of Clarence's Magic Garden I can find is ... right here.
Clarence was an old man back in the 'sixties, a primitive/naive (horrible terms) artist I've likened to Moondog. Not a musician, a sculptor. He created a world of his own in New York State, I think up near Woodstock, a garden of strange houses and weird forms, wrapped in tinfoil and studded with found objects, dolls, glittery trash. You can see a glimpse of it on the cover of the Jake And The Family Jewels album, and it gets a credit in the liner notes. I also remember it being featured in an art book I owned. But according to the internet, it never happened. Just bubbles of false memory foam.

I contacted an old friend of mine (hi, Joel!) who lives up in the backwoods close
Joel's dove - sign o' the times
to the Catskills and the site of the festival, and asked him if he knew anything about it. He's busy right now painting psychedelic signs for the 50th anniversary, but nope, he can't recall anything about Clarence's Magic Garden.


A magical little corner of the world, lost in time and place. A secret from the internet. Maybe that's a good thing.

EDIT: Note exactly a secret! A helpful comment from the most hardworking presence on the internet - Mr Anonymous - clears up the mystery.

6 comments:

  1. My dearest Farquhar, I'm so glad you recall my magical "Garden of Hope". The internet remembers--I currently reside at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Schmidt. When you visit be sure to check out the external links for pictures and articles. I'm not surprised you couldn't find me--when I died my ashes were lost for 32 years.

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    1. Thank you! His full name and correct details makes searching productive. David Johnson's photographs are beautiful. There are some color shots here:

      https://alchetron.com/Clarence-Schmidt

      And here, from a fine art perspective:

      https://www.riccomaresca.com/the-house-of-mirrors/

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  2. Thanks Farq, fascinating articles about this truly committed artist, good reading. What a wonderfully eccentric person he was. Good to know some of his original art pieces were discovered and live on...

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    1. You're welcome, Mr Jam. You only have to look at the photograph of that incredible house to hear firetrucks. The thing that impresses me is the sheer amount of labor involved. If I ever get around to painting the gate it will be a major personal achievement. Twenty million things - he did 'em!

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  3. ...then there is the "Temple of Tolerance"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uu0ooJk2Io

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