Inspired by abandoned warehouses in Brooklyn and decaying urban ruins. Fired Ceramic Sculpture with under-glaze.
As a teen, I often went exploring (trespassing) around Brooklyn and came along a few interesting places along the industrial parts of the city. In hindsight it would have been great to have some digital snap shots of these places but then again, 10 years ago digital cameras weren't so easily available.
I had gone back to one of the warehouses and it was still as creepy if not more so than ever. It had been sealed off, but someone had sledged a hole through the cinder blocks. I had asked a nearby worker what happened. He told me that there was "contamination" and they had to shut down the factory. This added to the creep out factor, no doubt. So I called a friend let him know where I was and if he didn't hear from me in an hour, to call the cops and tell them where my body was.
I went "exploring." The place seemed like an arena with many parts of the concrete flooring caved in revealing a dark lower level. there are two staircases leading up to the 2nd level of the factory. They stand in front of two rooms. The broken staircase is in front of the one room that had a dying Christmas tree in it (seen from the doorway), which (undeniably) was very frightening. The other staircase was in front of the room which was sealed off with more cinder blocks which had some damage to them. The holes created in these blocks seemed to be broken from inside the room. The place is riddled with graffiti so I knew others had been here before. But when you're the only one there, the experience is quite surreal. My heart was racing the whole time.
