Very, very cool! I love amusement park/theme park history, so this sounds right up my alley.
As far as amusement parks as a medium for art, I think it's a perfect fit. If you look at even the lowly county fair, you'll find amazing examples of airbrushed artistry on the sides of funhouses and flat rides. As a kid I remember being fascinated more by the artistic depictions on the sides of the rides more than the actual rides themselves.
If you think about it, a lot of our views of past generations are shaped by what those generations were entertained by. Music, movies, theater, television. Amusement parks fit neatly into that concept. Case in point, I greatly enjoyed the Musee Mecanique in San Francisco which houses a large collection of vintage coin-operated amusements.
Parks themselves, with their whimsical architecture, use of color, sound design, and so much more, can be considered works of art. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I too love park history. And I agree with you Tim: It can be fascinating to see the ways that people spent their leisure time in the past. Places like Coney Island and Kennywood positively ooze with a palpable sense of history and nostalgia.
Very, very cool! I love amusement park/theme park history, so this sounds right up my alley.
As far as amusement parks as a medium for art, I think it's a perfect fit. If you look at even the lowly county fair, you'll find amazing examples of airbrushed artistry on the sides of funhouses and flat rides. As a kid I remember being fascinated more by the artistic depictions on the sides of the rides more than the actual rides themselves.
If you think about it, a lot of our views of past generations are shaped by what those generations were entertained by. Music, movies, theater, television. Amusement parks fit neatly into that concept. Case in point, I greatly enjoyed the Musee Mecanique in San Francisco which houses a large collection of vintage coin-operated amusements.
Parks themselves, with their whimsical architecture, use of color, sound design, and so much more, can be considered works of art. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I too love park history. And I agree with you Tim: It can be fascinating to see the ways that people spent their leisure time in the past. Places like Coney Island and Kennywood positively ooze with a palpable sense of history and nostalgia.