This term paper was done for an art history class when I was an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA in the early 1970's. It was in that class that I was first exposed to the concept of "constructed ruins", and I found that idea extremely intriguing -- so much so that I used it as the basis for this paper (which, if memory serves, garnered me an "A"… probably the only one I got in that class).
I don't really remember doing the research, or writing the paper, but I do recall doing the drawings. I don't know what inspired me to render the entire text part of the paper in hand lettering (something I've never been that good at), but it did go well, I think, with the illustrations. The entire thing was created on plate-finish Bristol board illustration paper, and I used some kind of dipping pen -- possibly with a crow quill, though it could have been a larger nib -- to draw the ruins and do the lettering.
It was the only time in my life that I endeavored to do a term paper this way, and that's probably because doing that much hand lettering and trying to keep it neat, even and legible was an enormous pain in the neck (literally).
Here's the entire paper, with cover page and bibliography. You'll note the graphic on the cover page is the one I am using for the heading of this blog. I'm not really sure where the phrase "a study in decay" came from -- I may have made it up myself -- but I suspect I may have run across it in my research for the paper.
(Note: Because pages 4 and 5 are a two-page spread, I am using a smaller image of both pages together to show how they were meant to be seen, and then two separate images for both pages for easier reading.)
Of all the ruins mentioned in the paper, I think my favorite was the house in the "Désert de Retz" park in France, made to appear like the base of a huge, shattered classic column. There is something bizarrely whimsical about the notion of a house built to look like that. -- PL
Heavens! That paper deserves more than an "A". What stunning illustrations! If I'd been the professor I would have had a hard time giving it back.
ReplyDeleteThat early Gothic obsession with ruins (and desire to build or romantically alter them) is a fascination of mine, too. I'd never heard of the "Désert de Retz" house before this, though. Extraordinary.
"amygreenfield said...
ReplyDeleteHeavens! That paper deserves more than an "A". What stunning illustrations! If I'd been the professor I would have had a hard time giving it back."
Very kind of you to say, Amy. You know, looking at this term paper again while I was putting it up on my blog, I wondered if other people have done similar things. I suspect so, but I have not heard of or seen any. I can't even remember, at this late date, WHY I did mine that way, though I suspect it had something to do with the fact that I found the subject so interesting.
Or maybe I just didn't have access to a typewriter.
"That early Gothic obsession with ruins (and desire to build or romantically alter them) is a fascination of mine, too. I'd never heard of the "Désert de Retz" house before this, though. Extraordinary."
Maybe you could pop over the Channel and see if it is still there!
It is a strange thing, isn't it -- that ruin obsession... especially when it finds expression in FAKE ruins. I guess it stems, at least partially, from the human love of artifice.
And that just made me think of something which is not a ruin (though it may be someday), but a great example of the artifice I mentioned. One of my favorite motorcycle rides in this area, one which takes a few hours, is Route 116 from South Deerfield (just a couple of miles from us) to Adams, MA. It's a lovely road, replete with sweeping curves perfect for a motorcycle, and many a bucolic vista along the way. Several years ago, the owners of a property abutting this road -- I think it might be in Plainfield or Savoy -- decided to "enhance" a small pond (roughly the size of a swimming pool) which was only about thirty feet or so from the road. They landscaped the area around it in such a way as to make the tree which grew next to the pond much more interesting-looking -- dramatically "posed", if you will . It is now a sort of picture postcard-perfect image of a beautiful tree, on a gentle slope, casting the shade of its leaves over this tiny but lovely pond. And in years to come, people who happen upon this sight will likely think it is "natural".
Getting back to the "faux" ruins -- it's kind of amusing to think that many of these fake ruins actually became REAL ruins over the years... an interesting layering of the real upon the false. -- PL