Artist ships front of vacant Detroit home to Europe, leaves behind an even worse eyesore

Near 8 Mile Road last summer

I'm a traditionalist. I believe that art should be beautiful.

From USA Today:

An American artist living in Europe made international headlines last month for moving an abandoned Detroit home to Europe and putting it on display at a major art fair.

Six months after artist Ryan Mendoza's team finished stripping the facade off a two-story house near 8 Mile and Livernois — and assured neighbors the rest of it would be demolished immediately — the naked shell of the home still stands in the middle of a healthy block. It's a jumble of urban decay, rubble, debris, exposed beams and falling plaster.

The project ignited a heated debate about whether it was a meaningful artistic statement that would draw attention to the city's struggles or just another example of so-called ruin porn — the exploitation and glamorization of the city's decay. But critical arguments and polemics at 10,000 feet are one thing. The reality on the ground is something else entirely.

Why couldn't the so-called artist just create a painting of the house and exhibit that in Europe?

Related posts:

• (Photos) Part one: Abandoned homes in Detroit's Grixdale Farms neighborhood
• Photos) Part two: Abandoned homes in Detroit's Grixdale Farms neighborhood
• (Photos) Abandoned homes near Detroit's Telegraph Road