Death of a Shopping Center
A few days ago, my wife and I took our kids to the nearby mall that we both spent considerable time in growing up. My friends and I would spend our weekends there, exploring and making use of the little bit of money that we had to buy albums, movies and band t-shirts.
The mall today is a shell of its former self. In addition to the usual suspects like the internet leading to declining business, this particular mall has been plagued in recent years with stories of criminal activity in the immediate area surrounding it, decreasing attendance. Much of the building is closed off with makeshift walls, the same walls that block off so many of the empty storefronts.
Back in 2019 I created an album called "death of a shopping center." It is a 25 minute long single track and I tried to create the feeling of a mall that was slowly dying. The cover image is actually from a screenshot of a video that I recorded in the mall probably 22 years ago with my handheld camera that I snuck into the building with me. I wonder what that man is doing today.