the white room

The skyscrapper that houses the White Room Recording Studio located at Grand River and Griswald is almost completly abandoned except for the 3rd floor where i am curently sitting in this room ------>


Once through the frosty glass door you hop on an old school elevator and walk into a few beautiful rooms filled with music equipment. The rest of the floors are filled with odds and ends from when artists used to squat. I am here listening to my friends band, The Summer Pledge, complete the recordings they've been working on for the past few months. This recording studio, where kid rock once brought in jacuzzis to track one of his albums (for better or worse), is bieng sold. My friend Andrew Davis and his friend chris are trying to save it, I am told they are in the vision process, and thats about all i can publish on the internets.




I spent the greater part of today overwhelmed and baffled by the world. The world moves fast always, and i often feel like i need to step on the brakes... but today felt different. Lately i've been feeling this crushing feeling of an impending crisis. but i know it's not only me. We are living in volitle and uncertian times. Who knows what tragedies or victories are coming our way. Yesterday I learned that my bosses husband was forced into early retirement because GM cut 3,500 more employees, my friend Angela was violently mugged and beaten blocks from my house, a friends mom had surgery to fight a brain tumor, my friend Aj lost his 2 year internship just as he graduated, and after all of those aweful things.... my friend Jasmine and Andrew are having a baby. They have created something that trumps all the bad in the world, new life, new possabality, a reason for us to keep fighting. Right now the entire world is holding it's breath, no one is confident in which steps will move us forward, but daily on our streets in our homes and in our hearts life does not wait, it cannot. Regardless of our finicial situation, what part of the world is at war, what city buildings are crumbling under thier own wieght, the sun still sets and it also rises.  we have to keep the flame of hope alive.

I've been trying to write an article about Detroit and the many ways i can see our future. My thoughts are supported by years of research. I can't get over the feeling of being overwhelmed. life in general is not helping.

detroit city on the move

dreaming of summer.

This is my old neighbor Alex, Camilles sister. In this photograph she was 3 years old. One day i was fixing lunch in my kitchen and they started spraying my with a hose through the open windows. Alex is the baby of her family, i think at one point there were 7 people living in the flat above me. The little girls loved to come into my room and touch anything they could reach and would often cry when i would explain i had grown-up things to do. I have to admit it was fun playing with them in the summer. helping them ride bikes, picking veggies in our garden, and plying in the mud.


"you are about to witness the very exciting story about a city and it's people.
it will be an adventure that will open new sights in familiar sourroundings.
it is a story of a city seeking new horizons in a resolute contest with great challenges.
that city is detroit, home of nearly [one million] people back in 1701 long before this land become a nation, caddiliac planted the colors of france on detroits shore, and thus began a rich and inspiring history which has brought detroit to its finnest hour, the today of which we are apart. yes detroit is enjoying it's finest hour, there is a rennisance, a rebirth in this city, there is a newness in detroit. i am honored to be serving as [photographer] at this most eventful and productive period in detroits history and i am honored to be a participant in the detroit story."





"This public domain film narrated by then-mayor Jerome P. Cavanaugh was made in 1965 to promote Detroit. The city faced many urban problems and its population was in decline. These difficulties were amplified by the 1967 riots, which are seen by many as one of the most significant events which led the city into a forty year decline. Since the mid 50s, the population has dropped by half and the infrastructure has been destroyed or has decayed due to abuse and neglect"

in this cold city my home is a burning ember.

the first snowflakes, on my balcony last night.


So blogger was down lat night and i was unable to publish my normal weekend wrap up. which is wierd. so now i am plugged up like a hose with too much preasure.... i have ideas ready to burst from my seems.

There are a million things that i would love to put out to the world everyday and it's hard to decide which ones are worth anything.

First i have to include a correction and appology.. then i'm going to include photographs.. they can tell a story.

ATTN: the Funk night at russell was NOT put on by CAID. It was produced by Mike Mackool, Fank, Nicole, and Ernie. They throw killer events. Anything with thier name on it will be hoppin' and right now they are working Slow Jams Monday at the woodbridge pub, which seems to be gaining Momentum. Monday nights drink special is $5 beer and a shot. Who could go wrong?

I spent the later part of my saturday, and early sunday at one of there events... well Mikes last night as Fourth Horizon. Ghostly recording artist Michna played the motor city movie house at the russell. i dont think anyone could leave the dance floor.

anyways.

i spent thursday enjoying the last warm day of the year.

my cousin and pushed all the leaves in an empty lot of a house they just demolshed into a pile... upon jumping into them she pulled out a large chunk or brunette hair. needless that was the end of that.

we went and climbed trees instead

saturday i found myself at a jewish synagogue... the one on state and griswald.

Oren and Courtney organized the event where Benny Stoofy, the misinformants and a few others played. i sat under a sign that read no smoking on the sabbath drinking a beer, and as usual pondering the irony of life... sometimes. which makes me laugh uncontrollably.

i left early but i heard the dance floor was packed till the wee hours. around 5 am.

Later that night i found myslef inside of a building i have always wanted to adventure in. I was let in and asked not to link the photographs... so here one is. i can only tell you it was a fulfilling experience.

Sunday i was awoken by my best friend and kidnapped to Detroit One Coney Island on woodward. I almost burst my kidneys from laughing so hard at our afternoon breakfast.
I spent the rest of the gloomy afternoon adventuring around some of my favorite spots. Blowing the clocks off of dandylions, and exploring an old friend, the Globe Trading Company. I took a photograph there on a sunny day once after talking to a homeless man who inhabits the space for awhile. This photograph has garnered me some notoriety, it is not online and i would like to keep it that way, but it is of the light streaming in and the man (Oscar, i'm pretty sure is his name) reading a book. About the time i took that photograph, 3 years ago, is when they first announced this historic building was going to be turned into luxury lofts. The Globe was one of the first steal structures in Michigan, and Henry Ford was an intern there. They built boats once upon a time.. and if you need more information i have the complete application to make it a historical site. I could go on for hours.
Anyways, 3 years later the sign is still on the outside advertising the lofts... but the inside has not changed and oscar still lives there.

In this photograph there is a tiny white light in the center. that is Oscars reading light. you can view it better on my flickr.

i was there untill the sun completly set.

Around the block from the gobe is one of my very favorite spots in the city. i spent an entire summer there. i still go back to get away, but the meaning has changed. the people have faded away. construction on the riverwalk has altered the landscape. But on this cold gloomy day, it felt like Montauk from the scenes in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.


call me a hopeless romantic.. then i sipped hot chocolate as it snowed.

i need to figure a better way to upload photographs. these small ones are silly. see them larger on my flickr. www. flickr.com/photos/vanessamiller

the story of after the election

this is my favorite photo of the night. it reminds me of the future.. hope, smiling faces, diversity, cars and bikes... cities beautiful.

the rest have been posted at www.flickr.com/photos/vanessamiller
and on metromix detroit http://detroit.metromix.com/events/photogallery/party-pics-election-night/752843/content


Friends and Family,
Regardless of your political affiliations we are lucky to have witnessed history being made last night. I sat in a small jazz bar that was recently restored from the 1920's surrounded by about 60 friends, one block south of woodward, a few from Camptius Martius(the main square downtown Detroit). I walked in the moment CNN called an Obama victory and the entire city seemed to explode. People were dancing in the streets, waving flags, sparklers, obama signs and shirts. People were screaming the national anthem and strangers were hugging, there are few times in life when you can feel such energy and hope among a group of people. The area i was in, Capital Park, is impoverished, there is this small jazz bar open only on fridays and saturdays, across the street from a strip club, down a block is Detroits' Transit Terminal which is home to many homeless. On this eve Larry Mongo the Owner of Demongos (the bar i was at) played Obamas speech over loud speakers and messages of hope resonated across the old buildings. There was a roar of car horns and people so i rode my bike over to woodward and saw the closest to peaceful riots i have ever seen. There was talk of a bloodless revolution, and a man holding an obama sign was screaming "it only took one vote", over and over. Traffic was stopped and human beings in celebration, flooded the intersections. It all went on until about 1:30 when police closed woodward and the parties were returned to individual bars. I was lucky to witness this happen in Detroit, i was there with my camera and the beginning of my photos are on my blog vanessahooray.blogspot.com . I have to finish the rest today for metromix/freepress and i have many more stories.. but hooray guys... this is awesome.

words fail me

more to come

on the eve...

no photo tonight.

on the eve of what could be the most important election of our lifetime, a decision that will affect the future of the globe forever, I want you to close your eyes and envision the tomorrow you would like to see. What will it look like and who will be there.

I want you to consider all that you can do, all that is within your power to make this world a better place. as well as the steps it will take to get there starting by just bieng a good person. I don't want to preach about the importance of voting... it is becoming nausating and redundant, but would like to make sure you at least consider the fact that you have control of your future. You can make a difference. Also that every chip in the wall is a step closer to the other side. The power of community and togetherness... is unbeatable.

Good night and good luck and i hope tomorrow we wake up on the dawn of a new future.

little teeth

today is epically long. i wanted to discuss these things. i wrote most of it at cass cafe and i thought this hot chocolate and the light streaming in looked pretty sweet.

1. my 5 favorite things about detroit
2. what i did for the past week, Including halloween parties at the russell industrial.
3. why alleyways and powerlines are so romantic.



First thing this morning i was asked to list my 5 favorite things about detroit.
1. the streets. they breathe
2. the people. they live
3. the places. have history
4. the communities. they fight
5. all of those things together make this detroit, an incredible alive place to be.
here is a link to the rest of the thread.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/exposuredetroit/discuss/72157608577660937/


On saturday night my roommates boyfriend broke up with her through a text message. He said she was possesive and emotionally immature. However i wonder....what is more mature, her trying to get an answer out him for the past 2 months or his text message break up. It's another example of how technology has changed our interactions with one another, and what pisses me off about that. Technology is bad for relationships of any kind. Yes, we are more connected then ever before, but i feel like it is shrinking my amount of close friends because when you can be connected all the time, people don't take into consideration that life still happens. I'm equally to blame for the lack of people to people interaction in my life. I am connected through myspace, facebook, twittier, blogspot, ichat, virb, flickr, yayhooray and my phone, people have 24 hour access to creep stalk me if they want. However i'm pretty sure they are all busy upating thier status and creeping on the webs, just like i do.. for at least an hour a day. I blame the nets for the deterioration of friendships, romantic and not, also have had them used and have used them to piss me/other people off. I also find out about peoples relationships, and even define my own on the internets. Two of my friends were engaged tonight and i found out instantly, thanks to the webs. For some reason. there is something wrong with this to me. However i am a avid participant.


Anyways, my friend Andrew Davis curated an art show on Halloween night titled Recollect Dead. He ordered Vans slip-ons, and chuckas then sent them to artists across the counrty to create them with one rule, make the shoes about something that has passed away. He works under his clothing company SImplified, and is now more seriously pulling together the Aww.. Sweet group. He also curated the GoodWood shows that happened in Brooklyn and Detroit, produced the Art Battle Knives Out. His stable of artists spans the globe, he stays in Detroit to make it happen here.

So what do these things have to do with one another? The shoes i spent all week working on at russell are my pretend tombstone...to the death of technology. One shoe was painted with the sad mac face, and the other the pc blue screen of death. They accompanied a 12 x 18 piece of cardboard with the words, fatal error, the death of technology written in binary code using chalk. If i could i would walk to your house, unplug your computer and have a conversation.


The 29 other shoes were sahweet. Leo Espinosa's (botston) were a crowd favorite... along with Mike Burdick (New York), some were tragic others funny. Some Were direct references to the Mexican Holiday Dia de Los Muertos. Professors from College for Creative Studies also participated; David Chow and Don Kilpatrick.




Not only was it an art show it was a Halloween dance party with adult beverages and a DJ, the Cave Gallery a the Russell Industrial stayed packed untill about 2 in the morn when the rest of Detroit began to pour into Contemporary Art Institue of Detroit's produced Funk night.

Which brings me to the next point....

Halloween at the Russell Industrial Center


Was incredible. There were at least 3 large events going on in the Industrial complex on one night. All of them were promoted by independent sources, and took place in the artists studios. By 2am it seemed as if all of Detroit had come out, at least one thousand kids filled the halls dressed in costume, i couldn't recognize anyone and i wandered the halls from party to party. I spoke with my friend and one of the Hallow-palooza dj's, Robert-David Jones about what he thought of the event; He said he thought it was great espicially in a city like Detroit. That with such little promotion people came out in such great numbers to support our artists and Musicians. With such little promotion, and little to no media coverage how can people know that things like this happen in Detroit? How can people know we have such a vibrant culture? Lets change this.




Alleys and Power Lines

I went for a quick walk today. I looked down a familiar alley way and asked myself what i found so beautiful about it? The place i was standing was framed by the overgrown leaves and bushes, but i could still see for blocks behind the houses. Telephone poles were clumped together down the length and i thought about the power-lines they carried to each of the houses and business. How they sustained life to so many people in such small places. In a city we claim a small space, make it our own as much as possible using the same architecture used for many years... it becomes ours alone,
if you view it from the front. And only for the time we spend there.
Behind the walls and years of use, lofty ceilings and ancient woodwork, behind our back yards, urban gardens, patchy grass.... behind our safe fences, in our alleys, we are still all connected. Thats what i noticed... on this lazy grey sunday.

"There are powerlines in our bloodlines." - The Decemberists


Lastly. Please. Please vote on tuesday.