Words of Overbrook
wheeler antabanez

Words of Overbrook was originally a spoken word album inspired by the audio recordings of Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Charles Bukowski. Distraught and disillusioned by the demolition of his favorite abandoned asylum, Wheeler Antabanez wrote Words of Overbrook during a nine-day outpouring of cathartic creativity. After the album’s release, Wheeler felt his work wasn’t quite finished. He longed to somehow paint his words across the red bricks of the now demolished insane asylum. Curating from his archive of Overbrook photography, Wheeler achieved this goal by overlaying hand-painted text and displaying his words like graffiti across the asylum walls. For the first time, Words of Overbrook is available in print along with never before seen images of the abandoned Essex County Hospital Center.

A note on the Words of Overbrook dual editions: Color printing is more expensive than black and white. To provide a price option for readers there are two editions of the book. The color version is for people who are primarily interested in the historic photos of Overbrook and want to see the buildings in their full glory. The black and white version is for people who aren't as concerned about color photography. Both versions are exactly the same design, but the black and white is less expensive.

A note on the spoken word album: Perhaps the best way to enjoy this book is to listen to the spoken word album while you read. The Words of Overbrook audio files can be streamed or downloaded from this page at no extra charge.