Watchcase: Reinvention in Sag Harbor: Historic preservation brings new life to the abandoned Fahys Watch Case Company factory

Watchcase: Reinvention in Sag Harbor


Long Island’s Sag Harbor, a quiet Hamptons escape, has long maintained a community that holds history and preservation paramount. For the last seven years, a project has been underway to meet local standards and reinvent one of the village’s iconic structures. …

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Curious Bones

Skeletal sculptures find playful inspiration in grim materials
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Like a collection plucked from an old Victorian curiosity cabinet, Suzanne Hagerstrom’s bone sculptures have the unanticipated effect of delighting the macabre corners of our childish minds. Far-removed from the trends and memes of the art world, Hagerstrom has been quietly producing the figurines for decades in pursuit of her own charming obsession. She creates anthropomorphic critters from her imagination, drawing from myths of impossible animals like mermaids, wood sprites and, sometimes, even the jackalope.

Hagerstrom works out of her studio in Sag Harbor, NY, where nature remains her chief inspiration. About the origins of her work, the artist explains, “I turned over stones all the time and collected snails and turtles. I had a garbage can with snake eggs that I watched hatched. I had a magical childhood.” To this day, Hagerstrom sources her material from nature, gathering up bones of long-dead wild animals and domesticated fowl. She fuses the bones with a clay that is baked and painted to match the off-white patina. The hair, she admits, comes from a number of sources not limited to clippings from her dog, a friend’s fur coat and her own locks.

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“I love the idea of peering in, the voyeuristic aspect,” says Hagerstrom. While she admits her audience is limited to those with a stomach for morbid representations, it’s hard to deny her creatures are, in their own way, rather cute. They are convincing as well, as Hagerstrom relates, “People do ask, ‘Where did you find this?’ If I’ve painted them correctly, then they do look like living creatures.” She is fascinated by the story of a Fiji Mermaid, a hoax made of fish parts to resemble a real mermaid. “Of course it was found out, but I prefer to believe that, yes, that was a mermaid.”

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Hagerstrom’s creativity over the years is truly inspiring. Some of her past work includes a piece called “Leda and the Dead Duck” as well as an autobiographical series that used her own hair to decorate the sculptures. “It is play,” she explains. “It is the best kind of play because it is a meditative play.” Explaining her standards for good art, Hagerstrom admits, “If I’m moved by it and there isn’t a vocabulary for it yet, then that’s something really special. That’s what I want to engage in.”

We initially came across Hagerstrom’s work at her exhibition at artMRKT in the Hamptons last summer. While Hagerstrom doesn’t have any current exhibitions in the works, she did hint at the possibility of an upcoming project that riffs off the Pinocchio tale. Interested buyers should contact Julie Keyes of Keyes Art Projects for pricing and availability.


Fathom

New guides from the anti-tourist travel site

Only a few short months after its debut earlier this year, online travel hub Fathom has expanded its scope of original travel-related tales to include essential tips for planning trips to unfamiliar cities. The visually-pleasing site is filled with memorable stories and practical advice as colorful and intoxicating as featured destinations. With vibrant photographs linked to every post a taste of international travel is only a click away.

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This unusually pleasant approach to vacation planning is no happy accident. Motivated by past experiences of wading through extensive recommendation lists, founder and CEO Pavia Rosati worked with editorial director Jeralyn Gerba to “create a beautiful place for the travel-proud to get inspired, then come back and share their adventures.”

So far, Fathom’s Postcards make up the bulk of the site. From product guides and photo galleries to videos and questionnaires, the Postcards contain first-person content written for travelers by travelers. Within the heading “I Travel for the…,” each post reveals whether such categories as food, romance or culture motivate the traveling contributor. The Tools section, an especially “useful amenity,” offers general resources for money tips, links to sites with the best airfare and travel-friendly applications for smartphones.

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Fathom’s latest section to debut, Guides compiles incredibly helpful information for cities all over the globe. This includes cleverly-orchestrated itineraries like London’s “I’m Here on Business” and New York’s “Two Old Broads in NYC.” Other categories list top restaurants, hotels, shops, sites, and nightlife spots—all at varying price points—with an insightful blurb to help you pick the right ones for you. Written by locals who know the area best with content updated as needed, you can’t go wrong with Fathom’s city guides. Recognizing that savvy travelers refer to various sources, each venue listed also includes links to relevant news and travel sites that have something to say about that spot. For a short-form list of local essentials, every featured city also includes a Cheat Sheet with info like tipping customs and convenient forms of travel.

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Fathom Guides are currently available for New York City, London, Berlin and The Hamptons. Sign up for Fathom’s newsletter to get your wanderlust going. Also, feel free to contribute to the site by sending in a postcard with your most exciting travel adventures.