Readymades - Jeffrey T Brouws

Readymades is a photographic exploration of the structures, signs, and symbols of a rapidly disappearing America. Like the "readymade" art conceived by Marcel Duchamp, the subjects of these photos are objects that might otherwise go unnoticed - partially painted pickup trucks and rusted, faded freight cars that resemble Mark Rothko paintings. The subtle and elegant beauty of abandoned drive in movie screens, white rectangular shapes in various states of decay, isolated and forlorn in neglected landscapes are another example of finding beauty in the derelict and discarded. The book pairs each selection of images with an essay by leading writers and cultural critics including Luc Sante, M. Mark, D.J. Waldie, Mark Frauenfelder, Diana Gaston, and Phil Patton. Packaged in an interesting and handy horizontal format, the images collected here present a new way of looking at vestiges of American culture that are at once familiar and increasingly rare.