Painting Detroit

[Lowell]

I'm mot sure how I feel about your project. From a visual perspective, I find it interesting and appealing. However, I'm not happy about the use of the abandoned and tagged sites.

It might be OK on the interior of abandoned buildings, but when it goes outdoors on public property, then it bothers me.

For example, the doorway of the abandoned building....I hate to see further destruction of the property, not to mention that there is now paint on the sidewalk. Although you might see it as artistic expression, I think it invites more tagging and destruction by others.

I share this critique, particularly with exposed public and private property.

My personal ethic is the that nothing gets broken into, nothing gets altered, nothing gets removed. Think of it like entering the Parthenon or the Coliseum. Would you splash paint on them, if you could? I know some may argue that there is a big difference in historical significance between them and the Packard Plant or MCD but is there, really?

There is plenty of magic to be found if you look in the right direction at the right time and leave things undisturbed.

[johnkuhnphoto]

I share this critique, particularly with exposed public and private property.

My personal ethic is the that nothing gets broken into, nothing gets altered, nothing gets removed. Think of it like entering the Parthenon or the Coliseum. Would you splash paint on them, if you could? I know some may argue that there is a big difference in historical significance between them and the Packard Plant or MCD but is there, really?

There is plenty of magic to be found if you look in the right direction at the right time and leave things undisturbed.

For the most part, nothing is broken into. The buildings are just sitting there. Open. Everything in every building that I have personally been into is altered, with just about everything removed. Its just the way it is.

The Parthenon and Coliseum are landmarks of the area. So, whats Detroit's landmark? I would probably not be stepping too far out of line by saying the Train Station? Because the Train Station is almost highly regarded as a landmark of the city, I didn't paint it. There are hundreds of people that have seen this work at its first showing. Not one negative comment. Maybe they were just afraid to say something negative about me or my work. And thats their choice. But I felt that if I did paint the Train Station, it would probably turn most the people that love the work away. They would hate it because of that one image.
I believe that when we have something in abundance, such as these buildings, people should use them for something. I don't agree with people that go in there to destroy the building by breaking things or setting fires.
I know a lot of people will not like what I do. I cannot change that. I love the buildings. I really think putting paint on something is on a completely different page from the ones who try and break things in the buildings and set fires and so on. I figure I would use the buildings for something. So I used them as a canvas for my work