Rust Belt Ruins

“Rustalgia,” “Rust Belt chic,” and “Rust Belt porn” have emerged as significant aesthetic movements in the central United States. What is the cause of Midwest rust lust? I offer a framework for answering this question by describing the aesthetic property “ruin resonance” and articulating its unique character with respect to sites of industrial decay. I argue for two claims: first, the general category of modern ruins can be made viable by appeal to “ruin resonance”; second, publicized sites of urban dilapidation across the American Midwest are gripping because they possess a distinctive aesthetic feature, “Rust Belt ruin resonance.”