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| Blighted Home |
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| American Flag painting on bodega's wall reflecting on Car |
Cultural anthropology lured me to Detroit.
My visit inspired by "ruin porn," photographic images of the
deserted industrial landscape and my interest in the fading of The
American Dream made Detroit fertile ground for a visual exploration. The blight
in Detroit is the result of neglect and abandonment, not a
natural disaster or flood triggered by crumbling infrastructure as was the
case in New Orleans. As jobs in Detroit's automobile factories dried
up, the city started its descent from bustling metropolis to industrial
wasteland. Today Detroit is on the brink of financial
collapse. Miles and miles of blighted neighborhoods overpower pockets of
urban renewal that include hip restaurants, community gardens and an
active art scene.
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| Fischer Factory |
The Packard automative Plant has become
a Mecca for graffiti artists and a tourist attraction. It is slated to be torn
down in the summer of 2012. The natives, however, won't believe it until it
happens; many blighted buildings have been set for demolition yet remain
standing. Inside the sprawling compound where General Motors once spewed out
cars is an environment in flux. The compound's structures are in various states
of decay. Floor after floor in building after building, artwork covers the
walls. Wind and the echoing voices of people exploring the ruins rustle
through the empty spaces.
A bright spot in the landscape is
the Heidelberg Project, a folk art installation that takes up two city blocks.
Artist Tyree Guyton started the Project in 1986, using homes, some
habitable and some not, as his canvas. You come upon the Project as you're
driving through East Detroit, a particularly tough part of the city. The
brightly painted homes are a breath of fresh air, a sharp contrast to
the nearby burnt-out structures and lots full of debris. The lots within
the Project are hull of paintings on panels and playful sculptures, some
made of stuffed animals.
During my visit to Detroit I got a dose of local politics.
People were talking about the fact that Detroit may become one of the
first major American cities to be governed by an emergency manager,
essentially privatizing all public services and taking away the citizens' vote
in any decisions about the city's future. Emergency managers have been
appointed in other Michigan cities, with unfavorable results. What happens
in Detroit next will set a precedent for other American cities that have fallen
on hard times. Will failing cities be on the action block for corporate
takeover, or will they be given a chance to reinvent themselves, a longtime
American tradition?
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| Upstairs in Lee Plaza |
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| Chase bank/ Blighted home |
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| Plackard Plant |
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| Occupy Detroit Protest against Bank of America |
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| Upstairs inside the Placard Plant |
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