February 07, 2006

Going where you should not go

Exploring old buildings is nothing new. Our word "grotesque" traces its etymological roots back to a Renaissance dig into the cave-like buried ruins of Nero's "Golden House" palace. I will never forget a nighttime 1970s exploration of an abandoned hospital in northwest Portland, Oregon. Spookissimo.

Now it's called urban exploration. Another site offers photos of abandoned buildings and vehicles.

Do abandoned buildings become "nature" in the sense of wilderness? Or are they virtual caves?

1 comment:

gl. said...

urban exploration is one of my favorite things, and i have a knack for finding unlocked doors and hidden snickleways. w/o a standard human flow, lots of these places seem like the remains of abandoned civilizations lingering in the twilight between one universe and the next.

sven & i were part of a zombie film that was shooting in an abandoned mental hospital near wilsonville. THAT was spooky! :D