© Iman R. Abdulfattah
Mecca Smokes—East 70th Street & York Avenue, NYC
Taken June 1997. Ad circa 1910. From the Fading Ads of NYC (History Press, 2011) © Frank H. Jump
- Jim Shaw’s – Burnt Offerings – Mecca Cigarettes
Coca-Cola and Mecca Smokes Pentimento – Bleecker & Carmine Streets, NYC – 1997
Circa 1905 – From the Fading Ads of NYC (History Press, 2011) © Frank H. Jump
In explaining a layered fading ad, I’ve always used the term pentimento, a painterly term that describes evidence of a previous work on a canvas seen through an existing upper layer. Viewing these works under varied wavelengths of light, like ultraviolet, infrared and even X-ray scanning, can aid scientists in deciphering both palimpsests and pentimenti. The use of the word pentimento in “street and photography” has also been cited on the Internet as a term “used in a modern sense to describe the appearance of the sides of buildings with painted advertising.” Often when newer ads are painted over older ads, “the paint wears away to reveal the older layers.” Examples of this can be seen in the work I did in the Netherlands in 1998 while photographing fading ads in Amsterdam¹. – From the Fading Ads of NYC (History Press, 2011) © Frank H. Jump
Coca-Cola – Dante Ferretti: Design and Construction for the Cinema September 28, 2013 – February 9, 2014 @ MoMA
Dante Ferretti: Production Designer (MoMA Exhibition) CLICK FOR LINK
Dante Ferretti: Design and Construction for the Cinema examines design practice for film through the lens of Ferretti’s work, which is distinguished by the structural role it plays in the collaborative process of cinema art. As digital technology transforms the way films are staged, replacing the real with the virtual, Ferretti’s work comes at what may be the end of a 100-year-long tradition of full-scale, studio-built environments for films. This exhibition also serves to document this transitioning of cinema practice through its selection and organization of drawings, large-scale installations, and digital projection. – MoMA
Reflections on The Boston Store, Chicago – Featured Fade, Peter Anderson
© Peter Anderson
The dry goods emporium began life on this site in 1873 when Charles Netcher opened the Boston in a small 5-story building. The story goes that he was so dedicated to seeing the enterprise become a success that he spent his nights sleeping on showcase counter tops in order to spend as much time in the store as possible. His dedication paid off, and in 1891 after marrying ladies undergarment buyer Mollie Alpiner, the pair began acquiring property surrounding the store. Not wanting to show his hand and overpay, Netcher used third parties and pseudonyms to buy, or lease for 99 year terms, the half block fronting State Street and running west along Madison Street to Dearborn. – Designs Linger
Courtesy of John Chuckman – CLICK FOR LINK
Not to be confused with The Boston Store of Erie, Pennsylvania.
University of Chicago – Digital Library – CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
Peter Anderson works in the financial sector but writes fiction, “to ease the crushing monotony of corporate life.” Anderson lives and writes in Joliet, Illinois and his novel Wheatyard was published by Kuboa Press in 2013.
