The Ruins of Capitalism
By depicting urban decay and ecological crisis, ruin imagery shows the people and places that capitalism left behind.
Dora Apel is professor of art history and visual culture at Wayne State University. This essay is adapted from her book Beautiful Terrible Ruins: Detroit and the Anxiety of Decline, published this month by Rutgers University Press.
By depicting urban decay and ecological crisis, ruin imagery shows the people and places that capitalism left behind.