Ruin Porn and the Obsession with Decay
Description
This collection is the first book to comprehensively analyse the relatively new and under-researched phenomenon of 'ruin porn'. Featuring a diverse collection of chapters, the authors in this work examine the relevance of contemporary ruin and its relationship to photography, media, architecture, culture, history, economics and politics. This work investigates the often ambiguous relationship that society has with contemporary ruins around the world, challenging the notions of authenticity that are frequently associated with images of decay. With case studies that discuss various places and topics, including Detroit, Chernobyl, Pitcairn Island, post-apocalyptic media, online communities and urban explorers, among many other topics, this collection illustrates the nuances of ruin porn that are fundamental to an understanding of humanity's place in the overarching narrative of history.
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Person
Siobhan Lyons is a media lecturer at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Her book Death and the Machine: Intersections of Mortality and Robotics , was published by Palgrave Pivot in 2018. She has also been published in Philosophical Approaches to the Devil (2016), Westworld and Philosophy (2018), and Understanding Nietzsche, Understanding Modernism (2018).
Content
1. Ruin Porn and the Anthropocene (Siobhan Lyons).- 2. Detroit Was Always Made of Wheels: Confronting Ruin Porn in its Hometown (Kate Wells).- 3. Gods and Monsters: A Solastalgic Examination of Detroit's Ruins and Representation (Christopher T. Gullen).- 4. The Bronx Isn't Burning, Is It?: Ruin Porn and Contemporary Perceptions of The Bronx (Joseph Donica).- 5. "Take Nothing but Photos, Leave Nothing but Footprints": How-to Guides for Ruin Photography (Susan A. Crane).- 6. Where the (Moving) Sidewalk Ends: Images of Wasted Americana in the Preapocalyptic World (Amanda Firestone, Stephen Crompton and Corey George).- 7. Picturing Ruin in the American Rustbelt: Andrew Borowiec's Cleveland: The Flats, the Mill, and the Hills (2008) (Susann Köhler).- 8. Diachronic Fetishisation: Ruin Porn and Pitcairn Island Language, Archaeology, and Architecture (Joshua Nash and Martin Gibbs).- 9. No Vacancy: History and Meaning of Contemporary Ruins in a Regional Australian City(Nancy Cushing, Michael Kilmister, and Nathan Scott).- 10. Immersive Ruin: Chernobyl and Virtual Decay (Michelle Bentley).- 11. More than Ruins: (Post-)Apocalyptic Places in Film (Felix Kirschbacher).- 12. 'This is not ruin tourism': Social Media and the Quest for Authenticity in Urban Exploration (André Jansson).