Monday, September 21, 2009

The Museum of Peripheral Art: Bon Ton Cleaners (The Well)

by Drew Martin

This project appeared at Bon Ton Cleaners in Ridgewood, NJ from 2007-2008.


Studnia (Well)
A man came out of the house and shouted at me in Polish:
"Would you please explain to me why you are taking pictures of my well?!
I told him I was an artist from America, photographing objects that interested me and that I liked his well. I said it had a 'nice form.' The man's tone changed. His posture straightened.
He enthusiastically approached me and explained how he built this well with his own hands and told me how deep it was. He even bragged about how he only drank water from this well; because the town water is chlorinated. Then he pointed at a nice house next to his, smiled at me and said,
"My daughter lives there."