William E. Jones

The evolution of an Ohio rust belt city is examined in this double-screen projection by Massillon-born, Los Angeles–based artist William E. Jones. The 1944 propaganda film Steel Town, which shows the booming wartime steel industry of Youngstown, Ohio, plays alongside contemporary footage of the city’s now-quiet empty streets and abandoned buildings, underscoring the bleak reality of this postindustrial city. (6 mins., HD video)