place + people + use

fate of place

exploration of the relics of recent abandonment

You have likely found a stamped, addressed postcard that is otherwise blank with a vague set of instructions. The instructions will become slightly clearer, though I don't wish to hinder your creativity or direct your replies, so I will merely explain the purpose of this project and offer up a few possibilities.

This project began as an attempt to catalogue the uses and potential value of abandoned spaces within cities today. In the recent past, the landscapes of industry and commercial development flourish and collapse at an alarming rate, leaving abandoned buildings and lots behind. Many places have been preserved or restored as historic resources. Other places have been reused or demolished in the name of new development.

Interest in abandoned spaces and places is apparent in contemporary writing as well as art such as photography. In addition to the use of ruins in photography, film and literature, ruins are places of artistic expression and exploration as well as habitation.

In an attempt to collect more information about the uses and value of abandoned places in our cities, I am interested in collecting information from those people that use these places. People that walk through them or by them daily. People that explore them out of curiosity, fear, obligation. People that call them home. People that wander through by accident. People that come here to get away from the city.

If you are interested in contributing to this project, please send a postcard to the address below. There are no rules, only guidelines.

• the guidelines: (also, guidelines are meant to be broken, if you feel so compelled)

• the site should be or appear to be abandoned by the owner, though no research is required to confirm this

• the abandoned site may be anything from a building to an abandoned lot, but should be in a dense urban area

• please include the location, both general and specific of the site so I can explore it as well. Please note that I will NOT disclose the location of the site to any authority figure, this information is for personal use only and will not be disclosed to the public. I DO NOT intend to argue for redevelopment of these areas. I am arguing for leaving abandoned areas AS IS. I am hoping that you will all help me support this argument.

• include drawings, pictures, photographs, maps or other graphics as well as text to describe the place. Anything goes.

• if you wish your project to be posted on this blog, please indicate this on your postcard. Please note that if your postcard includes explicit content, I will not be able to post the content of your project.

Pass on the jar

The jar and tag contain directions to continue the project as well as this web address. Pass the jar onto someone, or leave it in another abandoned site and keep the project going.

If you wish to contribute please feel free to send your postcard to the address below:

fate of place
po box 1711
eugene OR 97440-1711

" We are at any moment the sum of all our moments, the product of all our experiences" (pg 185) - A.A. Mendilow, from The Past is a Foreign Country, David Lowenthal (pg 185)