Bluebottom Guest z01 — Detroit – what’s really there.

Every 1st of the month, I am going to have a Bluebottom Guest entry.  I’m asking people that are close to me who might be traveling, doing something  interesting, or just want to write about…anything.

First up – my good friend James Gilbert (who you have seen in a previous entry).  He made a recent trip to Detroit….read about his perspective of The Motor City.

xoxo

ZB

James Gilbert

Recently I spent a cold and wintery week in Detroit directing a fashion video for Koch. We chose Detroit not only for it’s perceived rawness, the city’s current statistics are that the population has shrunk to half it’s former size and is 30% abandoned, but also it’s history. We wanted to tell this story – a decentralized city in disastrous decline but with a rich cultural history of a once prosperous city vying for a comeback. Our locations ranged from immense but derelict Central Michigan train station, colorful graffitied alleyways to the historical Guardian Building – a beautiful art deco building currently used as residence on the upper floors and shops on the ground level. The building once was a premier facility where one in four Detroit residents did their banking.

Central Michigan train station

Guardian Building

The Meis Van Der Rohe, Lafayette Park – the first urban renewal-project in the United States and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Mies Van Der Rohe, Lafayette Park

 

The residential neighborhood that epitomized Detroit then and now was Indian Hills – a part of town where the large, well maintained homes could easily be placed in Dallas’ exclusive Highland Park. Yet, only two streets away those same homes were in complete disrepair with sagging roofs and collapsed front porches – some still being occupied regardless of their safety.

At dinner one night our crew on the shoot discussed the future of Detroit  – can it recover, can this happen in other US, or international, cities that invest too heavily in one industry? Several of us on the crew had just listened to a recent radio episode of This American Life about the Mike Daisey, a self-described “worshipper in the cult of Mac.” He saw some photos from a new iPhone, taken by workers at the factory where it was made. Mike wondered: Who makes all my crap? He traveled to China to find out. A worthy listen.

It was part of our crew’s heated discussion on product production cost, corporation, consumer cost, identity of labor force, labor rights, the affect on local community – at this point, Detroit. I know, way too much for this post but wanted to provide some context of the discussion.

There was one large painted signed that we saw daily – Outsource to Detroit. It was obvious by this sign that the residents want a comeback and are aware of the global economy.

Outsource to Detroit

A perfect summary to my experience in Detroit were the two stops I made in the half a day off before catching my flight back to Los Angeles: The Detroit Institute of the Arts and The Heidelberg project – The DIA showed evidence of a once culturally wealthy city with an amazing collection. The large room full of Diego Rivera frescos depicting Detroit’s industrial history were simply amazing and a poignant reminder of it’s productivity and global influence.  The second, The Heidelberg Project is exactly what every city should have is an artist like Tyree Guyton who has, for the past 25 years, transformed two city blocks where his lives. If you have time – visit the website and watch the 14 minute video. It provides a nice insight to the project and the benefit to the community – though, from an artist’s perspective also a disappointing reality of the state of arts funding and the sacrifices of artists within their communities.

Diego Rivera fresco

The Heidelberg Project

The Heidelberg Project

As our crew hoped that Detroit would eventually recover we were optimistic that the arts could serve as a catalyst for it’s next generation. As has happened in many cities – creative people needing low cost studios move into depressed areas bringing with them restaurants and small businesses – revitalizing communities with their work and ideas.

The Detroit residents we spoke with seemed ripe for more, what every community needs, the risk of adventurous people and innovative thinking.