Traces: the material sedimentation of destruction

Debris is the material sedimentation of destruction. And archeology is the science of historical sedimentation. In the constantly moving space of the black ghetto, the wrecked architecture of modernity is once more occupied, reshaped and put to use – while black bodies and their life worlds are extracted, thrown away and abandoned. A new paradox emerges, between the empty lands turned once more into productive commodities; and the ruined settlements that appear and vanish in cycles, taking with them the life that sustains them. The debris of these settlements becomes both evidence of this momentary presence and a testament to the permanency of life as it has existed; like the smouldering ashes of a fire, or the traces of a camp after it has moved on.