There’s a good chance of finding one in The Rocks. Another promising location is the psychiatric facility at what was once known as the Callan Park Hospital for the Insane.
We are talking Thomassons,more fully Hyperart Thomasson orChōgeijutsu Tomason, a type of conceptual art named by Japanese artist Akasegawa Genpei in the 1980s.
Stairway to heaven? Steps from nowhere to nowhere along Hickson Road,The Rocks.Steven Siewert
It refers to a useless structure,piece of architecture or relic that has been preserved and has become a piece of art in its own way. They didn’t start out as conceptual art but have morphed into something that is viewed as such. Sydney’s full of them.
There’s some 20 different categories of Thomasson. The artist made his first discovery in 1972,in Tokyo when he noticed a redundant staircase. There is a perfect example ofThe Useless Staircase (Japanese:Muyō kaidan)on Hickson Road (aka The Hungry Mile) in The Rocks (see above).
Next isThe Useless Bridge(Japanese:Muyōbashi),the definition for which is obvious. The unfinished Maldon to Dombarton rail bridge over the Nepean is a spectacular example.
A bridge not quite far enough - the incomplete Maldon to Dombarton rail bridge.Nick Moir
The Useless Window(Japanese:Muyō mado)is again obvious. Vanessa Berry,the author ofMirror Sydney in which she describes her encounters with unusual,forgotten or abandoned places in the city in which she grew up in,is stood by a pair of them in Towns Place,Millers Point. There are even steel bars to stop people climbing through one of the bricked-up windows.
Vanessa Berry in a useless doorway in Millers Point.Steven Siewert
A lecturer in creative writing at the University of Sydney she says Thomasson is an unusual term for something fairly commonly encountered in urban environments where there has been change.
“One of the rewarding things about going spotting for them is that it is a playful way to engage with the city to be looking for the relics of former structures and former uses of spaces,” she says.
“It also shows the layers of change in the city,change is usually uneven – some places are redeveloped while others languish in a state of disarray or disrepair.”
Another definitionThe Elevated Type (Japanese:Kōsho)takes us to the former psychiatric hospital at Callan Park. It looks somewhat dangerous but there must be a logical explanation for what appears to be a first floor doorway to nowhere.
What appears to be an elevated doorway at Callan Park.Steven Siewert
Genpei definesThe Live Burial (Japanese:Ikiume)as a roadside object which is partly submerged in concrete. That is perhaps closest category for these inconvenient underground conveniences filled in with sand at Circular Quay.
Disused public toilets at Macquarie Place Park near Circular Quay.Steven Siewert
The Uyama (Japanese:Uyama) is a sign or hoarding with letters missing. We can stay at Callan Park for this one.
Trespassers could be posecued.Steven Siewert
Why Thomasson?
The label evokes professional baseball player Gary Thomasson,who was signed by the Japan’s Yomiuri Giants for a vast amount of money but who then spent his last two seasons in 1981–1982 near to setting a league strikeout record before being benched.
Artist Genpei considered Thomasson’s redundant team position as fitting analogy for “an object,part of a building,that was maintained in good condition,but with no purpose,to the point of becoming a work of art.”
Hickson Road pipe is round the bend.Steven Siewert.
The Outie (Japanese:Debeso)is a protuberance from a sealed up wall,such as a door knob or tap. Photographer Steven Siewert,something of a Thomasson aficionado,found one back on Hickson Road.
The Devouring Tree (Japanese:Monokūki)sounds like the stuff of a B-grade horror movie but is defined as a tree which absorbs part of a fence or wire whilst still growing.
The devouring tree at Clemton Park near Canterbury.Steven Siewert.
The Boundary (Japanese:Kyōkai ) is described as a guardrail,fence or wall whose purpose is not immediately clear.
The Great Wall of Greenwich.Steven Siewert
Finally – and this is only about half of the categories – is the The Atago (Japanese:Atago)an object sticking out at the side of the road,with no clear purpose,possibly used to stop cars parking. That might describe this bollard in Summer Hill. Happy hunting.
A sign possibly used to prevent parking.Steven Siewert.
Know of a Thomasson near you? Send us a picture and we may publish them in a follow up story. Email:tbarlass@smh.com.au. All 20 categories can be found.