In an attempt to shed some light on why there may sometimes be significant periods of inactivity when it comes to posting on this blog, I offer a list (in no particular order) of ideas which fizzled, causing me to scramble for other topics. Although some of these consumed a lot of my time, I eventually had to get rid of them for various reasons. Keep in mind, there are several other unrealized pieces for which I'm still holding out hope. Thanks for reading, and happy new year.
1. Giant, Inflatable Census Form In Hart Plaza
I was waiting all this time, for when the figures were finally released and Detroit was said to have even less people than anyone imagined, just so I could say that maybe a larger inflatable, or possibly even a helium-filled and floating above the city, census form would have made the difference. Or, that more people would have filled out their form after seeing this, had they not broken both wrists tripping over the guy-wires. But then the whole thing—its droopy, partial inflation, our "tax dollars at work," and "this is what it's come to" feeling—made me sad and I abandoned the whole thing.
2. New Street
A few years ago they put in a new street near the Renaissance Center and actually named it New Street. I was thinking that, for 300 years, every street had a chance to be called this and none of them were. New Street actually looks like the opposite of the pictures most people see of Detroit. But I realized it was scarier than all those pictures and, if this was the "New" Detroit, I didn't want any part of it.
3. Fixing The Pavilion In The Greening Of Detroit Park
Back in the spring I noticed that a few of the plastic tubes on the Andrew Zago-designed structure in the Greening of Detroit Park had been pushed out. I had a plan to correct this and post a simple, two-photograph piece akin to a before and after straightening of a picture frame. Then I started thinking about what might happen if I accidentally broke one of the pieces. Then I thought the Greening of Detroit should really be the ones to fix it since it was their park and they had the resources to do so. Then I thought maybe they want nothing to do with it since it's plastic and not green. Then I went back and it looked like someone had tried to kind of fix it. Then I just decided to forget the whole thing.
4. Odd Vents
There are a couple of vents coming out of the ground which perplex me. The most annoying of the two can be found in Grand Circus Park and is made of PVC. It's obviously there to vent the parking garage below. But why is it in the center of a nice patch of earth? Why isn't it more discreet and decorative? Just what kind of solution is this?
The other vent is obviously older, it looks nicer but is no less intriguing. It's near Bagley and Cass and possibly has something to do with steam, although I've never seen steam coming out of it.
I decided this topic may get too scientific for me and also was afraid of being deemed an oddball for worrying about such things.
5. The New Foot Bridge
I was going to write about how great the new footbridge is over I-75 in Southwest Detroit. Then I realized that everyone already knew this; especially after it received so much publicity after being vandalized by a writer (I use that term loosely) from the Detroit Free Press.
I was also in the process of photographing the bridge in minute detail until I thought: what the hell am I doing?
6. Disappearing Artwork In The Federal Building
It was going to be the perfect opportunity to lambaste the federal government for removing (another) piece of artwork from the Federal Building in Detroit. The three-piece Sam Gilliam work which adorned the main entrance was missing. Alas, one phone call later I knew it was merely moved to the southern entrance while work is being done near the main entrance. It will be returned to its original spot when this is complete.
By the way, in a true sign that America is for everyone, the name of the property manager for the Federal Building is Munir Muhammad. You should tell this to the xenophobe in your life so you can watch their head explode.
7. Roosevelt Park
I had a plan to take some pictures of Roosevelt Park with its surroundings conspicuously absent. It was going to be a commentary on how people only see and photograph the abandoned train station and not the beautiful green space in front of it. And then things started happening in the park, some of them good, some of them not. The new plantings were fine, but then they put up giant blue letters scattered around the park. The letter's spell PARK, or possibly PARRK, since there seems to be an extra R out near Michigan Avenue. I assume this double R is a tribute to the railroad? Maybe it's for Roosevelt? In my worst imagination it stands for "R Park" as in "our park." Regardless, there are two problems with this sign. One, I already knew it was a park, and two, these giant letters make the park less park-like. If I were to look up in the sky and see the word SKY writ large every time I did so, I'd start to question if it really was the sky. I would like to contend that these letters could be put to better use by placing them on one of the thousands of empty lots in Detroit that aren't already a park.
Other plans for the park have called for skateboard ramps and even an amphitheater. The nice park I knew is gone and seems destine to look like one of the junk stores on Grand River.
8. Literal Manifestations Of Detroit Losing Half Its Population
At first this seemed like it was going to be too easy. Then it became overwhelmingly difficult.
9. One Prolonged And Two Short
For something so large, freighters sure are hard to photograph, as the picture to the right indicates. They always blend in with Canada. I wanted to write about the sound of ships saluting, one of the great sounds of Detroit. One prolonged and two short horns is the master's salute, which is what you'll hear about 98% of the time. (my unscientific statistic).
Harder than photographing a ship is photographing the sound a ship makes. I know what you're thinking, video right? Unfortunately, most of the time the ships are pretty silent.
10. Scrutinizing Seagulls
It's very hard to work when you've got a seagull watching your every move. This problem arises more often than you'd think. Seagulls are the reason a lot of my ideas fail to come to fruition. They are meddling and constantly breaking my train of thought. Even when it seems like they're not doing anything, they are.
I was gonna write about them, but now I'm not gonna.
There are a couple of vents coming out of the ground which perplex me. The most annoying of the two can be found in Grand Circus Park and is made of PVC. It's obviously there to vent the parking garage below. But why is it in the center of a nice patch of earth? Why isn't it more discreet and decorative? Just what kind of solution is this?
I was going to write about how great the new footbridge is over I-75 in Southwest Detroit. Then I realized that everyone already knew this; especially after it received so much publicity after being vandalized by a writer (I use that term loosely) from the Detroit Free Press.
