My Retirement at Ury So Far
2021 - 2024
2024.04.22
I know I'm supposed to be writing about the sequence of events 20 April 2024, but I haven't done it yet, so here's what Miers Fisher wrote here at Ury today 212 years ago:
22 April 1812 Wednesday
Morning thick clouds, wind NEerly, Temperature 50° rose to 64°. Dined at SL's [which was a residence on the north side of the 500 block of Arch Street]. Attended Meeting twice. Evening I came out to Ury. My wife spent the evening at SL's, D. Logan, J Fisher and wife with them. Afternoon clear.
Miers Fisher, a prominent Philadelphia Quaker and lawyer, bought a house and farm estate just north of the village of Fox Chase in 1795. He named the house Ury and moved to the estate upon his retirement in 1805, and kept a daily almanac/journal throughout the whole of his retirement until his death early 1819. [btw, Miers is pronounced Myers] Ury House was demolished in the very early 1970s, and the house I presently own and live in is located just within what would have been Ury House's backyard. I own a copy of Miers' 1812 journal, and there are many instances therein where Miers went back and forth between Ury and (downtown) Philadelphia. His main route of travel, from Ury to town, was the 'Indian' trail that is now Oxford Avenue down to the 'Indian' trail that is now Frankford Avenue down to the banks of the Delaware River just south of what is now Penn Treaty Park and from there on down to the city, and he most often took the same route when going back to Ury. I 'tested' this route to town from here/Ury myself by car in 2007--I had to go to Options Lighting in Olde City--and the route was indeed quite direct except for the many traffic lights and the occasional Septa bus I found myself driving behind. A fun journey nonetheless.
Now, as much as my decision to write My Retirement at Ury So Far was inspired by the dramatic event that occurred at Ryerss Library on the 19th and 20th of April 2024, My Retirement is also inspired by Miers Fisher's retirement at Ury journals. But, I can also say, in all honesty, that the actual idea to write My Retirement at Ury So Far 2021 - 2024 came to me right around the same time a Jupiter-Uranus Conjunction was happening in the night sky, 2024.04.20 22:27.
At 6pm the temperature is 62° and the wind NW 8 mph. Sunny and clear all day.
2024.04.22
Dear, Stephen Lauf!
My name is Yura Plokhov, I am an architect. I am currently involved in a project by Yaroslav Aleshin, curator of exhibition projects at the largest Russian institution of contemporary art – House of Culture "GES-2" (Moscow).
With a deep interest we follow the development of your project at quondam.com and museumpeace.com. We consider them truly innovative and important for the development of architectural thought today. Your attention to coincidences, and the possibilities of reconstructing the course of history retroactively, as Piranesi did, are very consonant with the ideas and logic of our research.
In July of this year, we are planning to hold a collective exhibition entitled "Stellar Revenge," which will be devoted to understanding contemporary culture from the perspective of the juxtaposition of the alchemist, the scientist-innovator, and the artist, each of whom in their own way and by their own means seek to establish an alternative picture of the world to the generally accepted one.
This project, as well as the activities of our institution as a whole, is of a non-commercial nature. Admission to a future exhibition will be free of charge.
As part of our project, we want to present the ideas of several authors who address topics similar to the focus of your research. First of all it concerns your chronosomatic theory and the concept of The Timepiece of Humanity. We see it reasonable to refer to them along with the legacy of such projects as the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit, as well as various concepts of alternative history and chronology developing in the context of Russian culture since the beginning of the 20th century (e. g. N. A. Morozov).
At the exhibition we would like to reproduce the image of the male figure with which you describe the mechanism of The Timepiece of Humanity and present an audio version of your text. This image together with the architecture of the exhibition will be able to better present the different projects of the artists and to unify them conceptually.
We kindly ask your permission to mention your name, to use the mentioned image as well as to translate and use for the public view your concept of the text which can be found at this link: www.quondam.com/44/4420.htm
With respect and hope for cooperation,
Yura Plokhov
2023.04.22
zero two nine
2017.04.22
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