From Alfred Street to Temple Street, Detroit

Much of the music revered by Northern Soul devotees was recorded in Detroit in the 1960s in the wake of the huge success of Motown. As Detroit has also become synonymous with the effects of post-industry, it was natural for Brown to turn her focus to Detroit. Initially unable to visit, she began ‘walking’ down the streets of Detroit remotely via Google Maps Street View. This resulted in an ink drawing entitled From Alfred Street to Temple Street, Detroit, which charts a route through Brush Park, ending at the Masonic Temple on Temple Street. The drawing is almost 30 feet or 9 metres in length and takes the form of a scroll that re-imagines the route as a topographical observation, acting as research directly through practice and makes connections between the once grand houses at one end of the route, the empty plots and often derelict warehouses and factories in between, and ending at the world’s largest Masonic Temple, the location of numerous Masonic Lodges, which for Brown symbolizes a secretive, exclusively male authority. This arose from Chloë Brown's involvement in a significant international research project ‘Topographies of the Obsolete' initiated by Bergen Academy of Art and Design (KHiB), Norway, in collaboration with partner art academies in Denmark, Germany and the UK. This explores interpretations of the post-industrial landscape, initially in relation to the disused Spode factory in Stoke-on-Trent, resulting in Brown's film 'Dancing in the Boardroom (Turnin' My Heartbeat Up)'. This drawing builds on this research moving the focus from Stoke-on-Trent to Detroit, the city famous for the manufacture of cars and for the music of Motown. Having lost over half of its population through the industry’s collapse, its reputation as a failed metropolis of abandoned buildings has superseded all others. This drawing was exhibited in Brown’s solo exhibition ‘Dancing in the Boardroom’ at The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, (MOCAD), Detroit, U.S.A. from January 15th to April 24th, 2016. In the collection of The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), Detroit.