In 1987, my buddy Steve and I were watching TV when a news report reported that Jim Reinders had built a replica of England’s Stonehenge near the city of Alliance, Nebraska. We decided that one day we would visit Carhenge. College came and went. Steve moved to Colorado and I to Minnesota. Years past. More years past. Then in December of 2014 on the spur of the moment we decided to get together in Alliance and visit Carhenge. We hadn’t seen each other in years. We spent one day there and everything was just as if it was yesterday that we had watched the news about Carhenge. I will always remember from my visit that “Time doesn’t exist; clocks do.”
Carhenge was built as a memorial to Reinders’ father. While relatives were gathered following the funeral in 1982, the discussion turned to a memorial and the idea of a Stonehenge replica was developed. The family agreed to gather in five years and build it. The clan, about 35 strong, gathered in June 1987 and went to work. According to Mr. Reinders, “It took a lot of blood, sweat, and beers”.
– Carhenge website
Art teaches us to see into things. Folk art and kitsch allow us to see outward from within things.
– Walter Benjamin
Download the tear sheet: Carhenge