Franklin, City of Magic

When my client Lucy and I discussed the project for the Franklin benches I remarked on the sculptures that seemed to have taken over the city's down town.  Her comment was that there is art that is bad and then there is that which is just awful.  I can add that beyond that there is that which sucks the air out of your lungs and leaves you breathless.  This especially hits home because I just recently returned from Peru with pulmonary embolisms (blood coagulates faster at high altitudes) and it took only a little effort to leave me gasping for air.

Out of the hospital, stabilized, and with time on my hands, I set out for Franklin to see what had become of the benches I designed and delivered in April in time for the high school students to submit their enhancements.  The idea of the project was to provide a canvas to engage the students and give them something to do besides shooting up.  Franklin is one of the epicenters of New Hampshire's growing heroine craze.  The last I heard was that parents were objecting to the possibility that their children might be exposed to paint fumes.  I was curious.



My design for the benches was minimalist, intentionally leaving spaces for the imagination...but I also felt the design was complete in itself and could stand alone.

It wouldn't be fair to compare Cusco, Peru to Franklin, NH, other than to say that both cities are rural centers, made largely of stone, and that people live there, which is where any resemblance ends.  Cusco was re-built by the Spanish in the 16th century on top of Inca stonework that goes back to pre-history.  The indigenous peoples are fiercely proud of their Inca and pre-Inca patrimony.  While many are much poorer in terms of creature comforts than the people o Franklin, their culture has sustained them so that even now, the Spanish language and architecture are but shadows over an underlying  base.

Cathedral and balcony: Cusco

Inca stonework with serpent

There is everywhere in Cusco a refinement that goes from the modern, all the way back to the pre-columbian

                

Franklin came as a bit of a surprise.  The park was particularly impressive.

The sculpture park in downtown Franklin

There are architectural oddities as well

This post Victorian looks like it's wrapped and ready for storage.

I did finally recognize three of my benches.  It appears that they gave up on the students and the town sculptor kindly lent a hand.

     

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for sheer breathlessness, this one takes the "cake"