Really cool sets of "art"! Enjoyed walking around and seeing what it had to offer. Had a great day trip to Brownsville! read more

See all

A truly unique work of art, spectacular to be created by one man in such an unlikely spot near downtown Brownsville. Don't miss the museum in the barber shop adjoining the property. Don't worry about directions or finding it, just keep looking up- you can't miss it. read more

Mindfield Cemetery is a massive, evolving steel art environment/monument/pulpit that stands just west of the square in downtown Brownsville between a motel and a furniture rental store. I would venture to guess that it's maker, Billy Tripp, has spent some time trippin' indeed. Internet research indicates that Tripp inherited the land from his parents, who are memorialized in the project. Apparently money is little consideration in Mr. Tripp's impressive and obsessive construction. I can't imagine how much money has been sunk into this acre of land. But I'm glad he did. Mindfield is west TN's own redneck Watts Towers. My favorite aspect of Mindfield is that (at least in low light) the structure, for all its gaudiness and roller coaster scale, actually blends into the landscape *almost* as naturally as some electrical substation or other such structure that is forced on the public but taken for granted in every small town in America. Still, I can imagine that the local officials hate this place and have probably filed lawsuits, etc. Or at least they would in certain parts of Shelby Co. Brownsville makes for a great detour off I-40. Grab a sandwich at Helen's and eat it in the shadow of the Mindfield monstrosity. read more

See all

We didn't see Mindfield at first. It was bigger than life, and not to be missed, yet somehow melted into the background. It's one of those tricks our minds play, an invisible gorilla, where we assume that three acres of memorial and a lifetime of sculpture will look something like a rolling pasture, and not an immense power station. Once we saw it, though, we could see nothing else. I suppose like any mind -- especially a mind that craves creative expression -- it's impossible to explain just exactly what's going on here. As a visitor, it's open to anyone, but your viewpoint is from the outside, shimmying through high grass against a gate in an alleyway alongside of the structure(s). Flocks of birds are the only visitors with free range, and they form a somewhat cheerful, somewhat eerie -- and one would guess unplanned -- theme song. Most of it's metal, with the occasional plastic toy attached here and there. There's a water tower, reportedly trucked in from some other state, loads of enigmatic statements wrought in metal, and a theme of "begin..." with nods to an unknown end. You could spend several days here and never see or comprehend it all. It's. A lot. If you happen to be driving between Memphis and Nashville, I'd say go on ahead and stop in for a gander. If you've ever wondered what obsession looks like when coupled with evident endless supplies of time, dollars, and metal, Billy Tripp's Mindfield might... *might*... put your mind at rest. read more