tagged w/ Braddocc
-
This is a deeply personal non-linear documentary piece of witnessing to the losses that still linger in the capital of the Rust Belt, Pittsburgh, PA.
I am an artist and poet. I moved to Pittsburgh in 2002. Every day I meet echoes of the losses of the steel industry. For a while I thought I was going crazy, witnessing patterns of behavior that didn't make sense to me, particularly from people in their 40's and older.
Others 'Burgh newbies have told me about adapting to sometimes-insular local behavior patterns. They noticed the odd sensitivities of some of the people who, we later learned, stayed when others left*.
Synchronicity has introduced me to people who tell me their stories. Perhaps because I am an outsider, who will not be hurt revisiting my own pain.
I shot the video and stills in Braddock, PA, a former mill town neighboring Pittsburgh and fighting for its life. I was introduced to Braddock by a local film production competition hosted by the honorable Mayor John Fetterman. His motto for the city, which lost 90% of its population to the industry loss, is: Destruction breeds creation. Create amidst destruction.
To learn more about Braddock, take a look at http://www.15104.cc/
To see more of my art work, go to http://www.drawclose.com
* - Pittsburgh has lost more than half its population since 1970 (the diaspora). People moved all over the country. The reason there are Steelers fans at every NFL Steeler away game is not because the fans travel. It is because the fans live in that city.This is a deeply personal non-linear documentary piece of witnessing to the losses... more
-
-
Fenlon
-
added this
-
5 years ago
- |
