Posted by:
pseudonymous
(
)
Date: September 10, 2014 05:36PM
A stairway to nowhere, a path that goes in a circle or a pipe connected to nothing — they're architectural quirks, remnants of projects long abandoned and they're called Thomassons.
Some examples:
http://ziacesk.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/thomasson_neojapon.jpghttp://ziacesk.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/1260474067.jpghttp://i2.wp.com/99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/tumblr_n9yxyjJm2v1sk7mx1o1_12801.jpg?zoom=1.5&resize=959%2C513Back in the early 70's, Japanese artist Genpei Akasegawa came across a lone staircase that went up and then back down but had no door at the top. And then he noticed that the railing had recently been repaired. Akasegawa started seeing these anomalies all over the city and began publishing them in a weekly magazine column along with a few words on what he found. Others who followed Akasegawa sent him their own images, and in 1985 he published a book of these photographs and writings.
Why are they called Thomassons? Akasegawa, needing a way to discuss these obsolete oddities, turned to American baseball player Gary Thomasson.
In the 1980's, American baseball player, Gary Thomasson was hired (at an outrageous price) by the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo only to set an all-time strikeout record and be benched for most of his two-year contract. Thomasson was both “useless” and (expensively) “maintained.”
Akasegawa's criteria for being a true Thomasson is simple: It must be completely useless and regularly maintained. Just like the Mormon Church and its "General Authorities".
Consider the time that is spent on propping up useless beliefs, translation of "scriptures" that have been proven to be not that and all the silly apologetics, not to mention the recent essays. They are propping up and trying to repair something that has outlived its usefulness and believability.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2014 10:16PM by pseudonymous.