Day 6, Detroit, one Observation

Day 6: Detroit to E-ville, Observations

Quote of the day:
Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today


Weather: Overcast, a touch humid, thunderstorms possible

Pics: Not DB’s foot, work from the Habitat Gallery (Bothwell, Reekie), work from the private collection (Betty Woodman, Nick Cave, Jun Kaneko, a great Viola Frey work on paper)

DB and THB are the only people in the fitness center today; everyone either slept in or went home. Cereal and berries, coffee at the hotel, included.

This is travel day, everyone boards the bus with bags packed and stowed. First stop: Habitat Gallery, specializing in glass and a retrospective of work from the artists that they carry plus a traveling exhibit in a separate building next door that covers 40 years of work, some of which is for sale. THB and DB don’t collect much glass (Adams’ heads seen in prior days) and Habitat has a Reekie (which THB isn’t wild about) and a Bothwell (decent).

On to the gallery owned by the ceramics artist the group visited yesterday. Some paintings, items that might be non-wearable jewelry, and some small plates (not done by Paul) that allow DB and Evans to do some recreational shopping.

Next up, the last part of our tour agenda, a visit to a private collection (where DB gets the “are you related to Barry Briskin” question, somehow they always ask her, not THB, even though she most likely is an in-law) in a very contemporary house with a lot of light. They have a nice set of Kaneko plates, a great collection of Betty Wookman vessels, lots of wood pieces, and the best Viola Frey THB has seen: a set of four related works on paper (see pics). Viola is known for her large ceramic figures, clearly she could have had a parallel big time career of 2D work.

From there it is to the airport bound, with box lunches served: chicken sandwiches, salads, and more sweets, drinks, included. Easy flight home and a taxi ride from SFO, $83.

Observations: Aside from another great art trip, the obvious is that Detroit in and around the downtown is dramatically and probably fatally broken. There will be small pockets of survivors (think the Lakeshore neighborhood with its one block of shopping, with smattering of small businesses, a movie theater, and a few parks nearby, multiplied by maybe 4 or 5, around 100 square miles).

What remains: apocalyptic square mile after square mile, slowly letting nature take its course? Maybe a huge preserve? Farms? Farms after a lot of industrial waste cleanup? It won’t happen in THB’s lifetime. Maybe not in THB’s kids’ lifetimes. Will it happen again? Maybe not here in the US, for sure in other countries that have cities that are very large bets on one industry.

And, the juxtaposition of the affluent suburbs surrounding the inner city is very stark. One suggestion: pick up the downtown and move It to the burbs. Not gonna happen.

Comments welcome, bizarre solutions anyone?