Toronto: Luminato 2016

Toronto skyline from Luminato 2016 venue, Hearn Generating Station. June 2016.

I dig the title of this Toronto art festival: Luminato. Luminaria. Illumination. Lumens. Luminous. Lou Reed.

The Luminato Arts Festival - a multi-arts-media event - is a creative apology and amends for Toronto's architectural blandfield.

Luminato 2016, Hearn Generating Station. June 2016.

I'm also a fan of derelict, decaying structures, and that's where Luminato takes place.

Luminato 2016, Hearn Generating Station. June 2016.

Luminato 2016, Hearn Generating Station. June 2016.

That's Sandy walking up ahead of me.

This exhibit mesmerized me:

Still does. And listen to the sounds within the exhibit and in the vast air space of the relic structure. 

I'll finish with a gigantic disco ball.

Luminato.

Somewhere in Mississippi: A Relic

Somewhere in Mississipi

I passed this once-upon-a-time dream on my way from Louisiana to Missouri for my annual relocation layover.

Louisiana: Plaisance: 2635 at Sunset

2635 Highway 167, near Plaisance, Louisiana.

  

Just as the sun was preparing for setting, I drove by a cluster of irresistibly-picturesque buildings on Highway 167, outside of Plaisance.

Plaisance is in St. Landry Parish, northwest of Opelousas and southeast of Ville Platte. 

The feed store photos are here.

Today is about #2635, which is next to the feed store.

2635 Highway 167, near Plaisance, Louisiana.

A cultural informant told me that the giant numbers on these buildings are for emergency responders.

Put your shades on for this next pic. 

2635 Highway 167, near Plaisance, Louisiana.

Louisiana: Plaisance: The Feed Store

Allen Joubert's Feed Store, Plaisance, Louisiana

Driving on Highway 167, just outside Plaisance, as the sun was setting on the first day of standard time, I saw the feed store.

Allen Joubert's Feed Store, Plaisance, Louisiana

Felt good to get out of the car and take some snaps of a building like this. Very New Mexico-ish thing for me to do.

Allen Joubert's Feed Store, Plaisance, Louisiana

Allen Joubert's Feed Store, Plaisance, Louisiana

Louisiana: St. Martinville Festival Grounds: Old Garage

Garage in disrepair, St. Martinville, Louisiana

There's an old garage, now a disintegrating building, owned by the city of St. Martinville (so I was told), that is part of the St. Martinville Festival Grounds.

Garage in disrepair, St. Martinville, Louisiana

It's got the proverbial good bones that some buildings have, if it would ever get reborn into something useful, but for now it falls mostly into the category of the decrepit picturesque.

Garage in disrepair, St. Martinville, Louisiana

The broken windows refract the fading light of a day in pleasing ways.

Garage in disrepair, St. Martinville, Louisiana

Taiban, New Mexico: The Church

Church, Taiban, New Mexico

Church, Taiban, New Mexico

Church, Taiban, New Mexico

Church, Taiban, New Mexico

Church, Taiban, New Mexico

Church, Taiban, New Mexico

Church, Taiban, New Mexico

I passed this church on the way from Fort Sumner to Clovis. It made me turn around and take a closer look.

And I wasn't the only person it pulled into its sphere.

Who turns out to be the same person I encountered back here.

Nageezi, New Mexico: Why Are Lost Dreams So Picturesque?

Nageezi Trading Post, New Mexico

There's a post office in Nageezi, New Mexico, but that's not what drew me off Highway 550 and up to the remains of ... what? A tattered barn with a mural on its side, a panel blowing in the wind, and the decomposing body of a store and gas station.

Nageezi Trading Post, New Mexico

I think the Chaco Inn at the Post was here, too - behind the post office if I go by other sources - but I saw no evidence of it still being in operation, and the most recent reviews in Tripadvisor are from 2005.

Nageezi Trading Post, New Mexico

These remains are on Highway 550 between Bloomfield and Cuba, New Mexico. Nageezi is about 50 miles northwest of Cuba.

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Rustavi: Dumbadze Street

Dumbadze Street. Rustavi, Georgia.

 
Dumbadze is perpendicular to Kostava Street in Old Rustavi. It is parallel to Pirosmani Street to the north.

Dumbadze Street. Rustavi, Georgia.

  

Dumbadze Street in bloom, June, Rustavi, Georgia.

 

Dumbadze Street. Rustavi, Georgia.

Dumbadze Street. Rustavi, Georgia.

Dumbadze Street in June, Rustavi, Georgia.

Dumbadze Street, Rustavi, Georgia.

Grapes coming along, June, Dumbadze Street, Rustavi, Georgia.

Kutaisi: Staircase Art

A beautiful decaying staircase in old town Kutaisi.

Kutaisi, Georgia. Staircase 1.

Kutaisi, Georgia. Staircase 2.

Kutaisi, Georgia. Staircase 3.

Kutaisi, Georgia. Staircase 4.