the road to nowhere

I often encounter posters for lectures that have already taken place and wonder why did I not come across or notice them before the event. One recent example was a poster for a series of lectures by Professor Stephen Prothero of Boston University, on the topic of Wandering as Practice and Play. Perhaps I noticed the poster in response to my heightened sensitivity to the issue of wandering, as I had been exploring this as a theme for my final essay for the Maxpak site.

Wandering as practice and play, to me means a way of experiencing or allowing yourself to be open to experiences of the unknown or unexpected. It means a way of seeing that is not tied to the prescribed or preconceived–noticing detail(sights, sounds, smells, textures), relationships, subtlety, changes. It means a way of feeling that evokes memory–of the past histories of the place, of past personal experiences.

My current life feels lacking in this essential practice. When I lived in New York I often found myself, intentionally and not, on walkabouts in the city. Maybe it was an inevitable function of the place, as in order to get from here to there one must encounter many layers of experience in between. Maybe it was the ease and accessibility afforded by the dense urban environment, the dependence on public transportation and pedestrian lifestyle. Maybe it was a desire to seek out and discover new experiences, neighborhoods, foods, cultures. Maybe it was just that, at that time, I was more open and receptive to the experiences. I often used photography as a mode for inquiry which I think made me pay closer attention to the details of my daily life. I need to cultivate a practice of wandering in my new city. My experiences in Anne's class have brought me back in touch with these feelings.

In considering how to combine images with each other and words with images for my final essay, Death of a Valley offers a beautifully crafted, touching narrative where the images are strong and expressive alone and the text contributes a deeper layer in the reading of the images. I found the essay touching and inspiring. It is clear that some of the images hit the strongest notes and others move the narrative along. There is a purposeful and direct layering of information, the plot builds with each image and by the time the bulldozers come along we have identified with the residents of the valley and are saddened by their loss in the name of progress.

Camilo Jose Vergara's site expertly weaves many years of photo-documentation and maps of multiple cities into a self-directed format that can be viewed, read and interpreted in as many ways as viewers, similarity and change interplay, details reveal, patterns emerge. 

Grouping and sequencing of images has been weighing on my mind. In a visual landscapes class that I am taking, groups of students were given an identical set images and an objective to guide them in arranging the images into sequences. The class then viewed the sets and voted on their preferences of the sequences without knowledge of the objectives. When the preferences where tallied and the objectives revealed, it became clear how strongly the sequences conveyed their message. Some included a title to guide or set expectations of the viewer others did not.

significant detail and poetics

The significant detail image set for the Maxpak site focuses on the interplay between the physical decay of the built structures, reclamation of the site by opportunistic plants and the evidence of human occupation portrayed though graffiti. These are the elements that initially attracted me to the site. As I investigate the site through seeing and photographing, these elements seem to become more intertwined. 

Reflecting on this weeks reading and beginning to contemplate and explore the poetics of the site further, I predict that the juxtaposition of the built, natural and human elements will play an increasingly important role in the emergent narratives of the site. Contrast and anomaly with the surrounding neighborhood context also seem rich areas for further exploration.

past and present

The "Maxpak" site, located at 56 and 61 Clyde Street in Somerville, MA, consists of two former industrial sites located between the active Lowell Branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail and an inactive rail spur, the Davis Square Freight Cut-Off. The inactive spur will be converted into an extension of the Community Path that currently terminates at Cedar Street. Access to the site is currently constrained to ingress from Warwick Street and egress on Clyde Street. 

The site is 5.49 acres. Three buildings currently located on the site are no longer in use and have fallen in to various states of disrepair. Over the past 80 years the site has been home to a number of industrial uses, including a Hires Root Beer factory, package factory, construction supply, and International Paper factory. The "Maxpak" name is taken from one of the industrial companies that occupied the site in the 1980s and early 1990s. The last industrial user, L Hide Construction Supplies, closed its doors in 2002. The site is currently owned by KSS Realty Partners.

The area surrounding "Maxpak" consists of a mixture of one, two and multi-unit buildings with a predominance of traditional two and three family wood frame structures. To the east and west the residential fabric is interspersed with small industrial and commercial buildings composed of either brick or cinder block. The areas to the north and south are predominately residential. To the east the VNA Assisted Living Center provides 100 units of senior assisted living housing in a four-story structure.

source: City of Somerville