Emery Blagdon
From Kook Science
| Emery Blagdon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 July 1907 [1] Callaway, Nebraska |
| Died | 1 June 1986 (78) Callaway, Nebraska |
Emery Oliver Blagdon (July 25, 1907 - June 1, 1986) was an American farmer and sawmiller who spent the final three decades of his life on a farmstead near Stapleton, Nebraska, constructing what he called a Healing Machine, a collection of self-assembled hangings made using copper and baling wire, magnets, foil, and other found items, in addition to colour paintings of geometric patterns, and salts as well as other elements he procured from area pharmacy, which, in combination and when correctly arranged (based on phases of the moon), he believed focused energies into the shed that the collection was housed within that could alleviate pain and treat disease.
After Blagdon's death, the collection was purchased at auction by Dan Dryden and Don Christensen, who showcased it as an art exhibit at select museums before selling it to the John Michael Kohler Art Center at Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Resources
- Kohler Foundation's Major Collections: Emery Blagdon's Healing Machines, kohlerfoundation.org, http://www.kohlerfoundation.org/preservation/major-collections/emery-blagdon/
- Smithsonian American Art Museum: Emery Blagdon, americanart.si.edu, https://americanart.si.edu/artist/emery-blagdon-30770