Ruint
June 11, 2013 8:53 AM   Subscribe

 
I think it was Bruce Sterling who said that the real problem with the "ruin porn" coinage is the implication that we have a choice about whether or not to look.
posted by mhoye at 9:04 AM on June 11, 2013


The earth is becoming a solid mass of scar tissue, as the tracks of human endeavour scour crosshatching into its surface.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:01 AM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


I've been doing some minor apartment renovation recently, and that has spurred me to thinking again about two ideas that I revisit periodically:

1) The tragicomic impulse to look at e.g. a collapsing villa and entertain the thought "Oh, that's just efflorescence - a little sulfamic acid will take that right out. We can probably find matching window hardware at Restoration...That switch box just needs to be reseated and spackled in correctly this time...I know a guy, works mainly on brownstones, that can match this concrete..."

2) The sheer amount of trash and crap in Amtrak's northeast corridor right-of-way and the decaying warehouses and lots lined up alongside, lights still on but owners absent.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 11:46 AM on June 11, 2013


The earth is becoming a solid mass of scar tissue, as the tracks of human endeavour scour crosshatching into its surface.

12 Amazing Earth Scars
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:29 PM on June 11, 2013


Fascinating set of links! The aesthetics of ruins is an engrossing topic. Memento Mori for civilization (or not)
posted by clockworkjoe at 12:50 PM on June 11, 2013


Excellent post, man of twists and turns. I'd read the first piece, but not the others. Thanks!
posted by homunculus at 5:19 PM on June 11, 2013


Decay
posted by homunculus at 5:20 PM on June 11, 2013


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