Eddie Owens Martin (St. EOM), Pasaquan
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Location:
Buena Vista, Georgia, USA (Map)
Status:
Extant
Artist:
Built:
begun 1957
































































































































Road sign, EDDIE MARTIN ROAD, 2000
“Talisman” sculpure St. EOM built to protect his mother from harm, 2000
Wall and entry, St. Eom’s Pasaquan, 2000
Walkway and house, 2000
House and walled compound areas, 2000
Detail, wall post, 2000
Entry structure, 2000
Studio, walls, and dance circle, 2000
Dance circle, 2000
Wall detail, snakes, 2000
Propane tank structure and wall, 2000
Propane tank structure and wall, 2000
Fortune telling room, 2000
Passageway, 2000
Bas relief sculpture in passageway, 2000
Bas relief dancer, 2000
Wall post bas relief detail , 2000
Mandala, figure with upswept hair and power suit, 2000
Bas relief figure with upswept hair and power suit, 2000
Wall, 2000
Wall post detail, 2000
2011
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2011
St. EOM in front room
South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010)
Site plan
2016
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May 2015
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May 2015
South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010)
South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010)
South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010)
South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010)
South-Central Georgia Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/010)
2016
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographer, Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographers, Lisa Stone and Jim Zanzi
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred Scruton
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Used with permission of the photographer, Fred C. Fussell
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
Used with permission of the photographer, Marissa Gawel
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Photos courtesy of Dan Smith, Kohler Foundation Inc.
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
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About the Artist/Site
Martin, the son of poor white sharecroppers, created an elaborate new religion and world called Pasaquan in western Georgia’s pine country. At 14 he ran away from his abusive father, landing in New York City where he survived as a street hustler, dope dealer, and fortune-teller. During an illness in the 1930s a voice from the “spirit world” told him he was going to become a “Pasaquoyan” named Saint EOM (the E is silent, pronounced like the eastern chant OM). He later defined this term as a fusion of Spanish and “Oriental” words that illustrated a merging of past and future. He became Pasaquoyan’s sole priest and practitioner.
St. EOM permanently returned to Georgia in 1957, moving into the family home and four acres he inherited. He continued telling fortunes, and began to ornament his home and grounds. Despite no real construction experience, he had learned basic skills growing up on the farm. He built and then embellished fences, temples, pagodas, shrines, walls, and walkways with brightly-painted oversized cement-sculpted totem faces, whirling mandalas, giant undulating snakes, and variously styled nude figures, influenced by his concepts of the temple complexes of pre-Columbian Mexico and the fabled lost continents of Mu and Atlantis. The imagery, also vaguely reminiscent of Pacific Islander sculpture and aboriginal painting, was stylistically adapted to the flashy designs and gaudy colors of a carnival sideshow.
Martin’s extensive ceremonial wardrobe included flamboyant multi-colored robes and capes, turbans, feathered headdresses, and elaborate homemade jewelry. He never trimmed his hair or beard, binding them up on top of his head into braids starched with rice paste and decorated with jewels. At over six feet tall, his performances of “ritual” dances in full regalia were singularly impressive.
Depressed, aging, and ill by the mid-1980s, St. EOM shot himself in 1986. “I built this place to have somethin’ to identify with,” he said,” `cause ther’s nothin’ I see in this society that I identify with or desire to emulate. Here I can be in my own world…. I wanna prove to society that even though I’ve been ostracized all my life, I have good qualities and good potential. I built this place just to prove that I could do it.” In 2008 Pasaquan was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is maintained by the nonprofit Pasaquan Preservation Society.
~Jo Farb Hernández
SPACES Archive Holdings
1 folder: clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, and the following periodicals:
Fred C. Fussell. “Clouds over Pasaquan,” SPACES Newsletter 9 (Winter/Spring 1989): 1-2.
Joiner, Dorothy. “Pasaquan,” Raw Vision 19 (Summer 1997): 28-35.
Mason, Randy, Mike Murphy and Don Mayberger. Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations. Kansas City: Kansas City Star Books, 2002.
Patterson, Tom. St. EOM in the Land of Pasaquan. Winston-Salem, NC: The Jargon Society, 1987.
Related Documents
Letter to SPACES/Cynthia Pansing from Rick Fisher, Southern Arts Ederation, 7/6/1988
Note to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Martha Connell, Connell Gallery, 12/1991
Oversized postcard for St EOM reception
Note to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Doug Loggins, Eyeball Productions
Pamphlet for The Pasaquoyan film
Condition Report for St. EOM’s Pasaquan Compound, 1988
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Mark Kingsley, 12/18/1988
Letter from Fred C. Fussell, Pasaquan Society, 12/20/1989
Flyer for publication of “St. EOM in the Land of Pasaquan”, 10/31/1987
Note to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Martha Connell, Connell Gallery
Business card for Martha Stamm Connell, Connell Gallery
Business card for Pat Connell, Connell Gallery
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Pat Connell, Connell Gallery, 8/15/1991
Letter to benefactor of Pasaquan from Pat and Martha Connell, Connell gallery, 8/9/1991
List of Host Committee for St. EOM’s “Vision of Pasaquan”
Media news release for Visions of Pasaquan
Letter to Fred Fussell, Columbus Museum from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 3/18/1991
Letter to “friend” from Fred C. Fussell, Pasaquan Preservation Committee, 11/1989
Day of clean-up organization scheduled at Pasaquan, 11/25/1989
Directions to Pasaquan with hand drawn map
Postcard for exhibition for St EOM
Letter to Seymour Rosen/SPACES from Fred Fussell, Columbus Museum, 9/26/1989
Letter to Fred Fussell, Columbus Museum from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 1/24/1989
Mailer for Pasaquan Independence Day Celebration, 7/4/1991
Invitation to Visions of Pasaquan exhibition
1988 exhibition details for Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
Postcard for a restoration/preservation benefit for Pasaquan
Letter to Tom Patterson from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 3/23/1983
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Jonathan Williams, Jargon Society, Inc, 4/21/1984
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Jonathan Williams, Jargon Society, Inc, 3/20/1983
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Tom Patterson, 3/17/1983
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Tom Patterson, 3/8/1982
Letter to Jonathan Williams from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 3/29/1983
SPACES museum exhibition data sheet, 4/21/1988
Press Release for Just Plain Folk?
Press Release for William S. Burroughs and Jesse Bersten Reading
Email to outsiderart@yahoogroups.com from SPACES/Jo Farb Hernandez, 9/15/2008
Email to thread between outsiderart@yahoogroups.com and mysteries@aol.com, 9/16/2008
Email to outsiderart@yahoogroups.com from mysteries@aol.com, 9/15/2008
Email to outsiderart@yahoogroups.com from Farris Wahbeh, 9/15/2008
Email to outsiderart@yahoogroups.com from mysteries@aol.com, 9/15/2008
Email to outsiderart@yahoogroups.com from Tina Cox, 9/18/2008
Email to outsiderart@yahoogroups.com from Fred C. Fussell, 10/11/2008
St. EOM’s Pasaquan - an update on progress from the Kohler Foundation, Feb. 2016
Map and site information
238 County Road 78
Buena Vista, Georgia, United States
Latitude/Longitude: 32.346287 / -84.581438