Urban decay: Saginaw, MI 48607, 8 Dec. 2005
- Title
- Urban decay: Saginaw, MI 48607, 8 Dec. 2005
- LC Subject
- Abandoned houses Saginaw (Mich.) Pictorial works
- Repository
- University of Oregon. Design Library
- Creator
- Russell, Laura, book artist
- Description
- On a December day in 2005, the artist visited her home town of Saginaw, Michigan. During the twentieth century, Saginaw was an important manufacturing town, but manufacturing and the automotive industry declined and by the end of the century unemployment, poverty and crime, including gang activity had created an urban blight. This book is a photographic essay on the once attractive neighborhoods of Saganaw which are now largely burnt out and boarded up. Issued in folded chip-board case with velcro closure and the title stamped on the upper flap. The book is bound with post and screw in an album style. Covers are made of plywood, pages contain color photographs printed with acid free inks on Janus Duo Card paper. Page edges are hand burned. Text is digitally printed using Franklin Gothic. The title is burned into wood cover. Includes a map of the Saginaw neighborhood where the photos were shot. The artist writes: "The genesis of this book was a drive my husband and I took about three years ago while visiting friends in Detroit. In a two mile stretch of road, near tony Grosse Pointe, we saw so many burned out or boarded up houses that the area looked like it had been bombed. We were shocked and saddened to see this urban wasteland. An artist book was born on this trip as the images haunted me for three years while I waited for the chance to go back and shoot the photographs. After some research I discovered that what we saw that day was not unusual. Detroit's infamous battle with Devils' Night arson has left the city ravaged. But, what shocked me most was that I found the same kind of blight in my own home town of Saginaw, located 100 miles north of Detroit. Finally, three years after seeing these houses in Detroit the artist book I had in mind became even more personal and more important to complete." Signed by the artist
- State Edition
- No. 6 in an edition of 25
- Work Type
- albums (books)
- Issued
- 2001/2011
- Identifier
- Russ_Urba_a_03
- Item Locator
- N7433.4.R87 U726 2006
- Rights
- In Copyright
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- Simply Books
- Type
- Image
- Format
- image/tiff
- Measurements
- 18 x 27 cm
- Material
- Wood; Tyvek
- Set
- Artistsʼ Books at the University of Oregon Libraries
- Primary Set
- Artistsʼ Books at the University of Oregon Libraries
- Institution
- University of Oregon
- Mode Of Issuance
- monographs; Editioned
- Place Of Production
- Portland >> Multnomah County >> Oregon >> United States
- Description Of Manifestation
- This book is a limited-edition hand-bound artist book. Original photographs, poetry and text by Laura Russell. Digital printing with archival inks on archival paper. Flyleaves are stained Tyvek. Interior pages burned by hand. Plywood covers hinged with book cloth. Hand bound at Laura's studio, Simply Books, Ltd. www.laurarussell.net
