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The Bulldozed Future
An Interview with the Zine’s Editor, Ryan Berkebile Introduction and Interview by William Urbanski
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
March 2021
FEATURE
A
few thousand years ago a volcano erupted, covering an entire city in lava and ash. Over time, a new city was built on top of the old one, which was, in time, all but forgotten. Serendipitously, the old city was discovered and excavated, revealing troves of commonplace but excellently preserved items that gave indispensable insight into the daily lives of the people who once lived there. That forgotten city is now one of the most significant cultural and archeological sites in the world and is called Pompeii.
culture of a society that gives crucial insights into the society – insights that can and may be lost forever in the bulldozed future. As managing editor of the Gwangju News, I got in contact with Ryan Berkebile, urban explorer and the editor of the zine The Bulldozed Future, for this interview.
While the perceived need for development is a whole issue in and of itself, there are certain people who focus on the edifices that are lost when this happens. The oldfashioned or obsolete buildings are all too often wiped out with little regard for what is lost.
Gwangju News (GN): I gotta ask: What’s this whole fascination about going into abandoned buildings? Isn’t it a bit dangerous? Ryan Berkebile: An abandoned building is a visually stunning scene. It evokes a vast array of emotions. Some people are embarrassed by it; others are depressed by the emptiness and decay. I am fascinated by such buildings and what potentially lies inside them. I think of my hobby as a form of anthropology mixed with modern urban archeology. Part of the adventure is finding artifacts that will help me learn more about the former occupants. I spend my free time exploring and taking pictures of abandoned buildings in condemned neighborhoods prepped for demolition. I record what I see with a camera, archiving the images to provide evidence of Korea’s dying communities.
As anyone who has studied anthropology knows, far more important than spoken language, stories, or traditions, it is the material
There is always some risk going into a house, either one that has been neglected for a long time or one set for demolition. A neglected house
While Gwangju and the rest of the Korean Peninsula certainly are not at an immediate risk of being buried under volcanic ash, there is another powerful force covering a significant part of its foundations: rapid development, especially of buildings, the construction of which requires entire neighborhoods to be erased from the landscape.
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