(self potrait at an undisclosed location)
"eDOT Reflects, Art"
After spending just over a year in a desolate and isolated state (North Dakota), eDOT has returned to civilization (lol) with an extreme desire to Artistically Explore & create. However, after being away from exploring abandoned and derelict structures for awhile, he had to prepare mentally before venturing out. "There are serious risks and hazards that go along with Urban Explorations" he stated. He continued with, "there are enviornmental hazards from contaminated soil left behind from decades of Industry abuse. Many of the Factories and structures are in very poor shape from years of neglect. The weather in Pittsburgh, & Detroit alike, are brutal to these buildings in the rain and snow seasons. Floors fall in and roofs calpse. Mold, mildew & bacteria grow rampant so every nick and cut easily gets infected. Along with these hazards; there are stray dogs, gang bangers, dope dealers, dope addicts and many other factors that one must consider before you grab the camera and hit the road. Not to mention the Legality issue"! Cities regularly prosecute for Trespassing and Breaking & Entering. Police Officers, judges and politicians alike discourage this type of Artist Expression for the reasons stated above and others. Aside from safety and liability, it also exposes the "ugly" side of our society into the headlines and tarnishes the image of the area. But that's the point, isn't it? To spark conversation and bring light to these issues that normally are brushed under the rug. Well for eDOT, that's one of the main reasons he purses this line of Artistic Expression. Selfishly, he admits the #1 reason he explores is to feed his creativity. He said, "I am an artist in many forms. I paint, I write, I draw and sketch, I photograph, I tattoo, I even rap lol; but all of these merely allow me to get by in life, they don't allow me to live. Decayed Vision (aka Urban Decay), that's me, that's my life, thats how I LIVE". But more imporatnt (to humanity) he hopes that his ART brings awareness & change to the plague of Urban Decay. After all, "I fear demolition but pray for renovation" is one of his motto's. He wants the history and culture of each city preserved and maintained. To hand down each communities "feel" to generation after generation. He said, "Advancement in technology and moderization is fantastic and needed to better our society, but demolishing blocks and cities of these structures also demolishes its identity, its charachter". To eDOT, he relates it to why people enjoy taking a vacation. He says "we take vacations to visit other walks of life, to explore things that are different from the same ol same. Would we travel to Egypt to see the same type of architcture that's in our community? Probably not! We must preserve our individual customs, traditions and culture, its our history, it's important."
After getting caught "trespassing" ther other day, he talks a little about the Legality issues. "I've been pretty lucky" laughing. "I have yet to be arrested. I've been confronted by security, police and even yesterday by a Director of Museum Collections and Archives; who owned a location I was photographing. At first he was pretty upset, but I think after he realized I wasn't there to vandalize or steal anything, he calmed down a little. I understand his frustration particularly. His organization, like myself, are actually on the same side. He's trying to preserve, renovate and maintain the history of these locations, me too". There are many "urbexers" who vandalize, spray paint and add to the demise of these places. But that's why eDOT refers to what he does as "Artistic Exploration", not Urban Exploring. "Not all Urbexers are bad, not even most, but there are a lot of just knuckleheads out there just tearing these places up. There's also the suburban kids that go "slumming" because it makes them look cool or tough to their friends. Their just punk kids with nothing better to do! It makes it that much more likely that I'll get arrested doing what I do, it gives those passionate about their art a bad name". When asked if he regularly Breaks into locations, eDOT simply stated "no". He then continued by saying "I have never Broke in anywhere. I have climbed in through broken windows, climbed on top of things to get to an open door on a roof, ect... but never technically Broke in". What about Trespassing? "Well, I may have overlooked a few No Trespassing signs but security and police need to understand something. In the past, I have tried to contact some of the so called owners of these locations. It aint as easy as some may think, even with the internet and google. Many of these owners dont want to be found. Many are behind on tax dollars from years and in some cases decades of abandonment. I contacted the city of Detroit to try and find an owner once and they even couldn't tell me who actually owned the property! Not to mention, in most cases they would be insane to give permission anyways. The liability of me getting hurt on their property would be enough for them to deny me access, these structures are not sound". I asked if eDOT had ever been detained by owners or Security Gaurds, ect... and he stated "basically in regards to legality, in my mind theres a lot of grey areas with visiting these locations. Many have wide open doors, broken windows and are not posted with signs; they ARE NOT secure by any means. I do not vandalize, steal or disturb these facilities in any possible way. I merely take artistic photograhs for my artwork. If confronted by security, owners, police or others, I simply leave, peacefully. But as a warning to security gaurds in particular, I WILL NOT delete my photographs, I will not WAIT for the police to arrive and you WILL NOT put your hands on me. Or I promise you WILL have a problem, period".
Regardless if you Agree or Disagree with the process of creating his art, you must recognize and appreciate the passion he conveys when speaking about his artform. He truely loves what he does. And much like the photograph above, his passion reflects his artwork. Please take the time to visit his website at VisArG - visual arts gallery .
interviewed by Kevin Mann
