Schizophrenic Architecture

The title for this body of work, Schizophrenic Architecture is a direct reflection of the buildings in the photographs.. The way the buildings no longer resemble what they started out as, showing quite visibly the different intentions of different people.

The work reflects an ongoing concern with the way that people are constantly changing their environment, whether it be through design or willful neglect. Neighborhoods of great architectural significance do not interest me as an artist, though I find myself living in a village filled with classic examples of Colonial and Victorian archite. I draw my inspiration not from where I live, but from areas that are a little worn on the edges. The late John B. Jackson described areas such as South Trenton as "The Vernacular Lacape". For the most part, these were photographed in the neighborhoods below South Broad Street.

If there is one photograph that sums up this body of work, it is the one with where the aluminum siding is peeling away, revealing a hidden window. It is as if the original building is refusing to be confined and is screaming out "Look at me. I still exist".

Most of the photographs in this section date from the early to mid 1980's and were taken in Trenton, New Jersey. They were exhibited at The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie in May of 1984, in Trenton, New Jersey, and reviewed in The Trenton Times on May 13, 1984.

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