Urban Ruins and the Myths of Modernity: Challenge and Resistance through the Work of Sarah R. Bloom

Abstract

This thesis explores the political potentialities of urban ruins through an investigation of ruins generally as well as through the work of artist Sarah R. Bloom. Ultimately this thesis describes urban ruins and their imagery as sites where powerful political (re)mapping of neoliberal capitalist modernity occurs. Whether through a (re)mapping of time, space, or hegemonic notions such as disposability, images of urban ruins do important work toward imagining alternative futures that are more just and sustainable for both humans and nature.