repels/fascinates iv. abandoned mental asylums/ pilgrim state

"let conversation cease. let laughter flee. this is the place where death delights to help the living"

mental illness is a human condition that i have both romanticized & have been marred by, so my feelings on the issue are highly complex and contradictory. mental asylums, particularly abandoned ones are creepy & fascinating, and seem to bare the essence of the sorrow of its former inhabitants . although i'm sure i could have posted about many other facilities, it is pilgrim state psychiatric center that has haunted me since childhood, being that it exists, in all its decadent splendor, in my home town in long island. opened in 1941, it still, even in its abandoned state, holds the title of being the largest mental institution in the world. it's peak occupancy exceeded 16,000 at one time. although a small percentage of it is still in use, most of it is left empty and ominous. abandoned/haunted architecture is something i obsess over & i feel a closeness to particular buildings, such as the divine lorraine hotel here in philly that i drive by every day on my way to the gallery.

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