Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Weird Scenes From The Chemical Mines . . .

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Or should it be called weird seeings from a chemical mind ? Whatever. I had a dream. I dreamed I was in an abandoned factory. A factory where obviously many horrible things had happened. The traces were everywhere. Slowly corroding away in the padlocked and chained stillness of the nightmares no one wants to know of. The sins of our past. Passing into the future. The pasture. Chemicals seeping into groundwater, then into the river. Tell me it isn't so, please. Time to wake up now. Time to resume pretending that none of this was real.
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Who would have guessed an Ammonia Scrubber sign could have turned into a work of post chemical modern art ?
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Our days are numbered . . .
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Even the ghosts that haunt the place need something to read.
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The pits that lie below . . . honest, you don't want to know.
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Caution, there is even a drain for the press, which is open to dilute.
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Exit ? Did someone say Exit ? I fear there is no exit from certain nightmares.
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40 comments:

Carmen Troncoso Baeza said...

Esto se ve tal cual, abandonado o puede ser arte?

Mouse said...

You're post fits right into my mood. Interesting and ironic. I've just recently finished reading The Road, A Canticle For Lewbowitz, The Dispossessed...and no joke, I've had reoccurring nightmares for years of being trapped in abandoned buildings, being chased down long dark hallways, everything decaying, inescapable...

...time to wake up, yes. But not time to pretend. Welcome to the real.

Joanna said...

That TEXI sign is a powerful image. I'd suggest letting that dream go. Happy days,
Joanna

Nevine Sultan said...

Our days are numbered, indeed! And can anyone make this reality more frightful than can you, Owen? Your photos chill... But, there's something about rust that just makes my soul hum. So, there you go!

Have a lovely week, Owen!

Nevine

Lorrene said...

Makes you wonder why some people go out so peacefully and others have to take that route.

Le Journal de Chrys said...

Une friche à explorer!!!! C'est intéressant ces images que tu en as tirées! J'aime ton exploration.

Steve said...

Weird. I always thought blue was a healing colour but there is something decidedly unhealthy about the blue in those factory photos...

Nathalie H.D. said...

Armaggedon - appointment with destiny. You've got it all mapped out. Scary stuff (and great photos...)

Adam said...

Hey - you're a real UrbEx now! Great photos - interesting place..

clo said...

coucou Owen...
Si une sortie existe j'aimerai bien la trouver...
des usines comme celle ci il en existe des millions partout dans le monde..nous avons fait de notre planete une poubelle toxique, qui deviendra invivable pour le peuple humain..
Ce qui me met en rage c'est que ce sont nos enfants ,les générations futures qui porteront ce tres lourd fardeau..tu parles d'un héritage...ceux qui se sont engraissé sur tous ces investissements juteux ne seront même plus la pour boire un pti verre d'eau parfumé a l'ammoniaque ou au plutonium, histoire de trinquer a l'avenir de leurs petits enfants..
J'enrage Owen,et j'ai beau essayer de noyer cette colère,de la diluer si je peux dire,je n'arrive plus a m'en défaire...il faut militer et se mobiliser contre ce mode de vie,signer pour mette fin a 'cette révolution industrielle" qui n'a rien révolutionné au final...juste empoisonné ,tué, détruit,sali ,souillé,ce que l'humanité a de plus précieux ,son nid, son garde manger, ses sources pour étancher nos soifs toutes ces beautés pour apaiser nos angoisses...j'enrage d’être aussi impuissante devant l'ampleur des désastres qui nous attendent aux détours du chemin..
En 60 ans on a tout pourri....
bref...
J’arrive quand même a me dire en faisant abstraction de ce qu'elles évoquent vraiment,que tes photos ont un certaine classe...j'ai beaucoup aimé ton bouquin pour fantomes...:o)armagedon l'arme fatale dans les jeux de rôles..
l'humour sera t'il le grand remède...
Nos jours sont comptés ..333 c'est peu...:o)
bisoux Owen..

Marginalia said...

Ammonia Scrubbers - memories of my youth. Woolworth perfumes were so cheap.

Interesting that Joanna read the EXIT sign as TEXI. That's one career path blocked off for her - usherette.

Pastelle said...

La première photo est sensationnelle. Et l'ambiance de tes photos colle bien au thème du cauchemar, oui...

English Rider said...

Bhopal, India, Anyone?

Anonymous said...

hauntingly beautiful.

Stickup Artist said...

Those eerie sickly greens fit the message and mood perfectly! And that book, in just those tones! Couldn't be more perfect to the nightmarish quality. Unfortunately, this nightmare is all too real...

Margaret Pangert said...

That is a nightmare: old chemicals allowed to seep into the water and land. My particular nightmare is seeing cute, dead beagles going down a chute at Novartis after they had been used in experimentation. What's worse is that they put a nice, clean PR face on it.

Owen said...

Hola Carmen, sadly, my language skills do not go much beyond English and a little French, so I haven't yet understood your comment, and I don't have alot of faith in on-line translations, which usually massacre all the subleties of language, leaving only laughable approximations of what was really meant... but thanks for stopping by... muchas gracias...

Owen said...

Dear Mouse,
I hope this little trip into an abandoned place won't spark any real nightmares, just daydreams about such places are bad enough.

Out of curiosity, as visibly you enjoy reading, have you ever come across John Fowles' short story The Ebony Tower ? There is a character named the Mouse. Wonderful reading if you can find it.

Owen said...

Hi Joanna, and many thanks... I will try to let it go, but some dreams do not part easily...

Owen said...

Dear Nevine, it truly was like walking around on the set of some awful horror movie, I expected a big hulking figure to come out from behind a chemical vat at any moment with a chainsaw all revved up. But it wasn't a movie set, and sadly, wasn't a dream. The rust and corrosion from god only knows what chemicals were fascinating. Isn't the Exit sign a beauty. More to come from the acid baths soon... Hope all is going well with your studies...

Owen said...

Hi Lorrene, it was most definitely a route to stay away from if at all possible.

Owen said...

Bonjour Chrys, une vraie Friche, une friche à frigorifier l'âme, un frimas qui tombe du ciel, à glacer tout ce qu'il touche... un peu comme la reine blanche en Narnia...

Et pas le moindre odeur de Chanel, nulle part là dedans. C'est ce qu'il manquait, d'ailleurs...

Owen said...

Steve, it wasn't just the blue that was unhealthy, I can assure you, the greens, yellows, reds; it was all unhealthy as hell. It was a little glimpse of hell, in fact. The song "The Future", by Leonard Cohen should have been playing in there...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_drEFOaPaK8

Owen said...

Hi Nathalie... I guess the only question is : when's the appointment for... must be coming up one of these days...

Owen said...

Hi Adam... this was urban exploration at its best... and I can only thank a true urbexan for being an excellent guide and host... you can see his work here :

http://tombphotography.tumblr.com/

Hope all is well, I've been swamped of late...

Owen said...

Clo, Clo, Clo,
C'est dur et c'est la réalité malheureuse de notre époque... et tu le dis ici avec une force, une puissance qui me touche en plein coeur. Tu as parfaitement raison, et tu l'exprimes dans une clarté pulverisante... je pense ce commentaire que tu viens de laisser et le plus beau, le plus vrai que je n'ai jamais vu jusqu'ici... Si seulement il y avaient des solutions. J'espère que oui, mais j'ai peur que nous sommes allé trop loin. Des sites comme celui-ci me font plus que froid dans le dos.

Merci Clo, et bon courage, nous en avons tellement besoin, tellement besoin.

Lena said...

Is it that I'm in a weird kind of mood? Your photos made me smile... It's either I haven't met my caffeine quota of the day yet or I seriously need to see a shrink...
Great shoots, Owen!
Hugs

Jimmy said...

I can honestly say that I am totally fascinated with the photies everytime I visit here. Superb! At some point I would like to work on something between us perhaps?

Owen said...

Hi Jimmy,
Let me know what ye have in that mind of yers...
(:-))

Feel free to drop me a line to owenmart333 at gmail dot com

Mary Ann said...

This is a great collection, Owen, a bit menacing in their dreamlike beauty.

Therese Cox said...

Thou shalt not covet . . . thy neighbor's AMMONIA SCRUBBER numbers.

Jess said...

That is a lot of rust in one post! I shall see it with new eyes from now on! :)

Lynne with an e said...

OMG! Was this nightmare some sort of terrible prophecy? Has Mr. Toad been scrubbed out, had his number called, met his appointment with destiny, gone down the drain, and made his final exit??? I am afraid...I am very afraid...I can only hope the ringing of a new blog post will wake me from this terrible state of anxiety soon, soon!

James said...

This would be a great theme for an exhibit or a gallery show. :)
Excellent post Owen!

jeff said...

Un conseil Owen... Ne le prend pas cet appart ! Je sais pas... je le sens pas ! T'as pas filé un premier loyer ?...

Céline said...

Hi Owen,
If one forgot the origin of these colours, your shots are definitely beautiful!! Sadly,truth is not so beautiful :-(
Take care Owen

The Sagittarian said...

I was trying to come up with some caustic comment but couldn't! Great pix, you're a brave one to be taking photos in those kind of places.

Springman said...

More photographic excellence. The exit sign is a winner!

PeterParis said...

Yes, there is a specific beauty about the exit sign... Maybe, after all, now a couple of days later, you have managed to exit?

Lydia said...

The image of that book is a really haunting thing...not that the rest of the images are uplifting!