“Give It Up”

A Kingston Story Project

Taking a break from Gigantic this week to tell you about a conceptual art installation I’m happy to be part of. Objects have been placed in lucite containers around Kingston. Eleven of us have shared these objects and written short stories about why the object would be hard to part with.

Here’s where you come in. Is there an object that interests you? Maybe you’d like it for yourself? There’s a link below so you can see all the objects on display. You are encouraged to decide which is of interest and write a brief, compelling explanation why you should be the one who gets it.

Whatever happens, there’s going to be a closing party at Camp Kingston (36 St. James St.) on September 10. Come see the all the objects, meet the people, drink something.

(Speaking of parties, the most excellent magazine shop, Curious, is throwing me a birthday party next Saturday, September 6th, you’re invited to that too! Mark your calendar and come. Music, cupcakes, drinks, fun people — 352 Broadway, Kingston)

Below is the essay I wrote about my object, The Protectograph. Following that is a link to Give It Up, where you can read about the other artists, objects, locations, and submit your own essay if you’d like to take part.

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The Protectograph

by Adam Snyder

I had a variety of jobs growing up in uptown Kingston. One was taking out trashcans along Washington Avenue, particularly at a doctor’s office where my mom worked as a typist. It was in a cardboard box behind this office that I found The Protectograph.

I did not know what The Protectograph was. Somehow it registered in my mind as some sort of weird adding machine (my grandparents had one of those, which had a similar lever on one side like a one-armed bandit.)

It was not rusting then as it is now. The big knob on the right felt substantial. It made a series of thunks rather than clicks when you turned it, very satisfying. When you popped it open, you found a rolling ink pad that will sully your fingers to this day if you mess with it.

There was an old desk in my room on Warren Street. I never studied there, it was more like an art installation. On its surface, you would find a random variety of objects from the 19th and early 20th century. The overall effect was some kind of control panel from a Jules Verne story, steampunk before steampunk.

I’m not sure when the idiosyncratic collection began. It seemed to reinforce a personal mythology that I’d been reincarnated from another time period and just happened to be passing through the 1970s.

The Protectograph fit right in with compasses, containers, 50-year calendars and other objects of mystery. It did not matter that I had no idea what it was manufactured for. Its purpose was to be present as a totem object whenever my gaze should happen upon it.

“I am as strangely out-of-place in this century as you are.”

The objects atop my boyhood desk would eventually disperse, but some would follow me, including The Protectograph. It would migrate from desk to bookshelf, where it made an excellent curio, giving your eye something to toy with, a pleasant contrast with the books it was keeping company.

It’s not a family heirloom. In theory, it should not be that difficult to part with this object. Like other things in my possession, I feel if I knew someone else would appreciate it, then it would be okay to let it continue its life in someone else’s collection.

If the internet had existed in the 1970s, maybe I would’ve looked it up immediately, it would not have been an object of mystery. Contemplating parting with it now, I finally do a quick search online and discover that it is a check-protecting device manufactured in Rochester in perhaps the 1930s.

Paradoxically, learning what The Protectograph actually is, now makes me want to keep it. Which is why it’s become just a bit more challenging to Give It Up.

The Protectograph is currently on view at Rewind, 612 Broadway, Kingston

Link:

GiveItUpKingston.Substack.Com

featuring:

Drew Broussard’s “Wooden Scimitar” @ Red Owl

Karlie Flood’s “Broken Barrette” @ Brunette

Will Hermes’ “Humility Plaque” @ Salt Box

Maggie Inge’s “Evening Bag” @ The Draw Gallery

Halimah Marcus’ “NYC Bicycle” @ Utility Bike Works

Annie Nocenti’s “Thumb-Pump Oiler” @ Tilda’s Kitchen

Julian Richard’s “Undeveloped Film” @ Half Moon Donuts

Samuel Shapiro’s “Birch Bark” @ Camp Kingston

Adam Snyder’s “Protectograph” @ Rewind

Emma Tourtelot’s “Marriage Dish” @ Maison Aprés

Adriana Wong’s “Love-Lost Necklace” @ Camp Kingston

Project curated by Josh Glenn and Rob Walker, along with their team, Karlie Flood, Bridget Badore, Tommy Sullivan, and Susan Roe.

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Click below for…

Gigantic

Ghost Tour

Kingston 76