When I was out west to give a talk and attend a conference I got to hang out with some grad school chums and get up to no good. I was taken on a whirlwind tour that included the university, the local watering hole(s), what is apparently a "world famous bar" in the middle of nowhere, and an abandoned mill.
I have a friend who did her MA thesis on post-industrial landscapes and ruin porn in Detroit--she alerted me to ruins tourism (where people trespass into abandoned sites) and the power it holds over people. I was definitely one of those people the moment we set foot in this space. It was astounding, eerie, and quite frankly dangerous.
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| "Dear Sirs: I believe this was intended to be received by you." |
It's incredible what is left behind--we looked through old log books, newspapers, files. And then of course there are new additions, things that people trespassing have littered around. Sci-fi VHS tapes, for example...
I enjoyed the graffiti. It strikes me that the main use of the walls in the past decade has been for various kinds of graffiti art. They certainly aren't holding up the building all that well...
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| proceed with caution: 1 floor down |
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| Danger, contains asbestos |
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| wedding rings and VHS tapes--strange bedfellows? |
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| Post-industrial silhouettes |
Perhaps I've been watching too many comic book movies lately, but I kind of wanted to test the gravity around this truck...
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| Safety first... |
This landscape that was once considered a sign of wealth and "progress" in the community has been relegated to another dumping ground. Curiously it is also an unsafe "safe" place for various groups of people who may be functioning outside of legal norms....
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