An Essay on Place and Home

Barbara Mason
Responses to Part I of Lucy Lippard's The Lure of the Local
January 15, 2007


The Lucy Lippard reading was interesting, evocative and I could relate to many of the things she talks about, especially in the Introduction and chapters 1 to 3. As a person who has moved many times in my life, experiencing a multitude of places and regions, I am very familiar with the "seductive embrace of places." One of my favorite Beatles' songs is the one that starts: "There are places I remember . . ." I even choreographed a dance to it; and any time I hear a few notes of the melody, I am nearly overcome by nostalgia.

Lippard speaks of the "visceral pull" of place with its visual and emotional attraction. I have also experienced place as a visceral repulsion, a kind of anti-attraction based on visual and emotional experiences. I have even fallen in or out of love with places I have never been to. Reactions to places are subjective. For example, the town my mother grew up in--Sanger, California--was a beloved place of mine as a child because my favorite and closest cousin lived there with our grandparents. However, later in my life after my mother remarried another Sanger native and moved back there with him, I began to dislike the place. My cousin was no longer there and I began to develop negative experiences of Sanger as a small, homely, dull and alienating place far from any of my friends. My mother and stepfather (who farmed the land for a living) loved this place and never understood why I didn't want to move there and settle down permanently as they did.

I grew up in Salinas, California and as a child and teen I longed for East Coast architecture, landscapes and seasons--based on pictures I saw in books and magazines. I actually felt as if I had been born in the wrong place. Early on I also predetermined that I never wanted to live in Kansas; and of course I got my first teacing job in Lincoln, Nebraska--just a hop, skip and jump from Kansas. Lincoln eventually "told me" to move on, and I felt I had "used up the place" long before I left it. After that my career sent me to reside in Upstate New york, Eastern Tennessee, Illinois, Northern Texas, and finally Columbus. Each of these places evoked in me (and still do in memory) specific physical sensations and emotional reactions, both good and bad. Another time I would like to write about these experiences in more detail.

With my dreams of the East Coast, I was especially happy when attending dance workshops in places such as Boston, Connecticut, Maine, the White Mountains of New hampshire and the Catskills of New York. They, along with West Coast's Seattle, created in me a sense of expansiveness and adventure, spiritual fulfillment and creativity. At heart I have been a gypsy, and have much enjoyed the opportunity to travel to and experience new places, cities, and regions. The biggest thrill was probably when I first went to Boston. Everything was new, but I felt as if I were "coming home" the moment I saw the old houses nestled in the hills surrounding the harbor.

"Place" is more intimate than "space;" and "home" is more intimate than "place." As Lippard points out, Americans vacillate between mobility and stability, exploration and rootedness. I have experienced both ends of the spectrum. Recently I bought my first home. Before that dorm rooms and apartments were "home." I really can create "home" almost anywhere by bringing along and/or acquiring things that make a place a home. While moving and saying goodbye are difficult, I am glad to have experienced many homes. For continuity, I have tended to "collect" wonderful friends along the way with whom I keep in touch, even though time and distance have created attrition. I am glad to know how much I love the ocean, mountains, small gurgling streams and quaint buildings in quaint towns as well as the impressive skylines and cultural excitement of large cities. I believe one can find "center" anywhere; and my many centers travel with me through memories and dreams There is an element of wistfulness that comes with relocating, but for the artistically inclined that can be a good thing.

My purchased home is small but delightful, and Lippard's discussions of Feng Shui and identity of place through stories resonate with me. I select a "home" by feeling the quality of the spaces within it and by looking out every window to see the view provided. Space, light and what lies beyond my walls are of great importance to me. Even though I am not a regular church-goer, one of my favorite things about my house is that from the dining room I can see a beautiful church across the street. This view brings me aesthetic pleasure and a sense of peace. The process of bonding with my home (and defining it) was made even more special by the fun stories my neighbor told me about its former residents.

In closing, I will say I could go on at length about the pros and cons of stability versus mobility as related to place. Perhaps I will pursue this topic more in the future, thanks to Lippard and her thought-provoking book on the local.