The notion of ruin seems pertinent for analysing the objects that populate our reality. This notion can shed light, specifically, on the relationships that are established with objects that evoke the past and awaken memory. In this sense, based on an artistic project - Dev#Luto, it is proposed to broaden the hermeneutic scope of this notion, so that it becomes operative in understanding traces that actualise an experience of ruin and memory in everyday life. It is between nature and culture that we situate the ruin, extracting from it a past that provides us with a future. A hybrid figure between the natural and artificial worlds, it highlights the fragility of actions, as human behaviours inseparable from technoscience and a contemplative, and therefore passive, episteme. The ruin and the memento mori remind us that we are only men, and that dying is only the beginning of a melancholic process. The methodology used comprised a literature review that enabled a critical assessment of the existing literature on the subject. In addition, direct observation was used to collect data on the chosen space. In addition, the case study is detailed, which made it possible to examine the specificities of the field in depth. The study has made a significant contribution to understanding the dynamics between art, memory and railroad crossing guard houses, offering new perspectives on the preservation and interpretation of these spaces.