| Photo courtesy of Pack a sense of humor “Every day I get a truckload.” Abita Mystery House at the UCM Museum. “For 21 years, people have been bringing me stuff,” he says. I don’t really buy stuff-it’s not necessary.” He says he limits purchases to items that cost less than $10, and for good reason: People inexplicably discard all kinds of treasures, in conditions from mint to decrepit, which Preble then adds to the items he’s collected over the years. “I like stuff,” the 70-something Preble says modestly. If you ever wondered what happened to all those paint-by-number and velvet paintings popular decades ago, here’s your answer. Gigantic animals and fruits-a grasshopper the size of a truck, and monster-sized pumpkins and watermelons-adorn vintage postcards from the early 1900s. In the backyard, an Airstream trailer is under attack by a UFO. Elvis (Presley), the patron saint of the South. There’s a shrine where the devout can pay their respects to St.
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Some were given to Preble as gifts and he fashioned heads, limbs, and skin for them. In another, a tornado hits a trailer park doors fly open to reveal a garage sale near a Sno-Ball stand (the beloved state treat consists of fluffy shaved ice doused with flavored cane sugar syrup) on Dog Pond Road.īufford the Bassigator (crafted from spray foam insulation with beach balls for eyes), Darrel the Dogigator, and other mutant critters straight out of horror films, were crafted from dollar store skeletons. | Photo courtesy of Buford the Bassigator. Be sure and take time to read the signs at the Abita Mystery House. In the largest display-a 24-foot-long diorama of Louisiana’s River Road-a swing at a haunted plantation-style mansion sways ominously to and fro, next to an oil refinery, snake farm, and BBQ shack. A New Orleans Mardi Gras parade is visited by a hovering UFO, and Martians mingling in the crowd jump for beads. Press a button in any of a dozen handmade dioramas in the Abita Springs attraction, and tiny clay human figures dance and sway, while surrounding mechanical objects come to life. New Orleans Museum of Art director emeritus John Bullard has called the Abita Mystery House “the most intriguing and provocative museum in Louisiana.” In a state chock-full of bizarre customs, museums, and festivals, that’s high praise indeed. Insert a quarter, and Preble’s invention spits out advice, suggesting I become an oyster-shucker or emoji designer. Preble once proudly called a pinball machine he built from 2,000 popsicle sticks-insert a coin and a marble travels an intensely circuitous route-his “masterpiece.” But he also says that distinction “changes in my mind by the day.” What’s his favorite the day I visit? The Career Counseling Machine. Its bizarre collections, outlandish contraptions, ingenious inventions, and what some people might call “junk” (about 70,000 items in all) poke gentle fun at the South-and reflect the warped vision of its founder, John Preble, a part-time artist and full-time eccentric. Preble used his taxidermy skills to create Darrell the “Dogigator.Housed in a former gas station in a small town less than an hour’s drive north of New Orleans, the Abita Mystery House is suffused with a sense of whimsy so deep, it’s positively subterranean. Preble used a variety of recyclable materials, lights, and motors to make this Mardi Gras scene move! The flying saucer spins, the French Quarter balcony rocks and the float riders dance! Preble’s collection includes interactive dioramas of Southern life. Artist and Mystery House curator, John Preble, has spent years collecting found objects and creating unusual inventions for this roadside attraction!
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