Bray Lecture Series: Ruins & the Anxiety of Decline

Guest Lecturer Dr. Dora Apel Professor & W. Hawkins Ferry Endowed Chair in Modern & Contemporary Art History, Wayne State University Focusing on Detroit, Flint and other cities facing urban deterioration, this talk critically examines the contemporary imagery of ruination and considers its cultural and political functions. It argues that the global popularity of ruin images serves to contain and control pervasive fears of decline.