For years, I've have had in my possession a magazine cutting of an amazing rural property in Pennsylvania. There was a rambling old house with several out-buildings and sheds, all semi-derelict but somehow being kept upright by the owners creative ingenuity, love and care. There were also all these wonderful semi-permanent tent structures which were comfortably stuffed full of beautiful vintage bed linens and antiques. It turns out that the owner of this property is the poetically named J. Morgan Puett, a fashion designer and artist, and the property is called Mildred's Lane, named after the last remaining owner who died there aged 87, having lived alone without electricity or running water.
Puett has now made the property into an 'artists colony' where many different artists come to live and collaborate together on projects, happenings and exhibitions. Working as a sort of big art project in itself, Mildred's Lane is an attempt to collectively create new modes of being in the world - whether its questions about our relationship to the environment, systems of labour, or forms of dwellings.
"As a participant at Mildred's Lane these issues will be negotiated through the rethinking of one's involvements with food, shopping, making, styling, gaming, sleeping, reading, thinking and doing".
I love the idea that the everyday is rich with meaning and can be a focal point to explore creativity, beauty and sociality. Upcoming projects include an experimental apiary developed with Puett and local bee keepers and a project exploring the land on the property through map making, gathering wild foods and explorations in constructing 'dwellings', both traditional and experimental.
Images: www.mildredslane.com
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