American Gothic

"America is no longer land of the brave. It is a country in decline. The power and strength, once manifested in the architecture of the American Dream, is falling apart. If buildings are strongholds of safety - a projection of a stable economy and society - it is no surprise that American architecture is depicted in contemporary art and literature as a dark, decaying mess. American Gothic is no longer the haunted houses of the deep south but reflected in urban or suburban collapse. In Bret Easton Ellis last novel ' Lunar Park' the main focus of horror was his home, an eerie reflection of his disintegrating mind. Here walls insidiously morphed from wood to stucco to wallpaper, a ghostly physical attack on Ellis’ psyche. Home wasn’t safe any more."

I wrote this a year or so back in this piece about Detroit (looking at photographer Pablo Power). The images above are of 100 Abandoned Houses in the city by Kevin Bauman.