Bankrupt Detroit reveals the darkest side of American
capitalism. And in the middle of the city is ground zero of urban decay, the
“sprawling corpse” of the Packard plant. Abandoned since 1956, it’s 3.5 million
square feet have contained every possible activity including urban explorers, scrap
thieves, arsonists and the homeless.
In 2010, Banksy tagged a wall but unlike all the other
graffiti covering every surface, his wall was quickly cut out and saved by the
local 555 Gallery. This past
Christmas Eve, Photographers exploring the plant found a dead body frozen to
the ground. It turned out to be a murdered young black man, Marko Davis.
I explored the plant last fall (in the daylight and not
alone) and was amazed by the space. Not only is it fascinating for the crumbling architecture of the
auto industry, but for the layers and layers of graffiti. Some of it is fast
and crude but other walls are well designed and took a great deal of time. You
can feel the flow of humanity that has passed through the space and marked it in
some way. Seeing bits of furniture here and there, you can imagine people
camping out in some of the spaces.
I saw a graffiti-covered couch and was inspired to paint this study in
markings.
But things are about to change. Where others see 40 acres of
devastation, Fernando Palazuelo of Lima, Peru, apparently sees charisma,
architectural challenge — and a bargain. He paid $405,000 in a tax- foreclosure
sale to obtain the industrial wreck by 2014. He plans to make it a vibrant hub
of automotive suppliers, offices, shops, lofts and maybe even a go-kart track. Can it happen?
No comments:
Post a Comment