Reclamation : Exposing Coal Seams and Appalachian Fatalism with Digital Apparatuses

Ernie Roby-Tomic

Exposition

Reclamation : Exposing Coal Seams and Appalachian Fatalism with Digital Apparatuses (2020)

Ernie Roby-Tomic
Ernie Williams-Roby

open exposition

About this exposition

The mountainous geography of Appalachia has been shaped by the coal industry since the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era of the United States. Mountaintop Removal (MTR) is a controversial and highly destructive surface-mining method flattening the mountains of Appalachian since the 1970s. The rise in massive energy consumption correlated to consumer electronics, automation, and technocratic neoliberalism have irrevocably flattened the surface and culture of Appalachia. Reclamation is the final act in MTR mining in which the mine operator is obligated to ecologically restore the land. Where MTR sites were once hidden away, and even photographing them is considered an act of trespassing, today I can bear witness to the destruction of the mountain topology by connecting to Google's Earth (not to be confused with earth-Earth). Despite the remote locations and inaccessibility of the sites, the data is particularly rich due to the economical advantages of mapping the region for the coal industry. In this exposition, I make my own reclamation as one in the generation born after the boom of coal production and its inevitable decline. I am reclaiming the 3D geospatial data of MTR and mining disaster sites, extracted from the servers of Google Earth. I recontextualize these geospatial assets to compose a visual prosopography of those surfaces.

Den fjellrike geografien til Appalachia har blitt formet av kullindustrien siden USAs gjenoppbyggingstid etter borgerkrig. Fjelltoppfjerning (MTR) er en kontroversiell og svært ødeleggende metoden for overflateutvinning som har flatet fjellene i Appalachian siden 1970-tallet. Etter hvert som etterspørselen etter strøm og stålproduksjon økte over hele verden, ble fjellene sprengt og flatgjort med dynamitt og tungt maskineri. Siden 1970-tallet det enorme energiforbruket med økningen av forbrukerelektronikk, automatisering og teknokratisk nyliberalisme har ugjenkallelig un-formet den geografiske huden til Appalachia og med den, menneskene som lever på dets rynkene. Gjenvinning er den endelige handlingen i MTR-gruvedrift der gruveoperatøren er pålagt å økologisk gjenopprette landet. Er skipet til Theseus det samme skipet hvis du bare bygger buen samlet fra beinene til mannskapet? Fjellene kan ikke returneres etter å ha blitt herjet og dyttet ned i dalen. Der nettstedene for fjerning av fjelltopp en gang var gjemt bort fra utsikten over motorveien og til og med å fotografere dem ble betraktet som en trespassing, kan jeg i dag vitne til ødeleggelsen av fjelltopologien ved å koble meg selv via nettverket, gjennom Googles jord. Geografisk informasjonsdata (GIS) og lysdeteksjon og rangering (LiDAR) skanner topologisering av et tredimensjonalt dyneteppe over fjellens komprimerte lag med død karbon. Til tross for deres fjerne steder og utilgjengelighet, er datamaterialet her spesielt rikt på grunn av fordelene med å kartlegge et slikt område i bransjen. I denne utstillingen gjør jeg min egen gjenvinning som en del av en generasjon appalacher født etter oppsvinget av kullproduksjonen og dens uunngåelige nedgang. Jeg gjenvinner 3D geospatial data fra MTR og gruvedrift katastrofe nettsteder hentet fra serverne på Google Earth for å fortelle historiene om katastrofe og fatalisme som ble spilt gjennom på stadiene i familie, karriere og industri. Jeg rekontekstualiserer disse geospatiale eiendelene for å komponere en visuell prosopografi med disse overflatene. Jeg reflekterer over hvordan jeg slapp unna skjebnen min, født i kullfeltene i West Virginia.

type	research exposition
keywords	extraction, art, digital, virtual reality, VR, intaglio, relief, printmaking, mining, coalmining, Appalachia, Appalachian Studies, visual art, traditional art, interdisciplinary, 3D scanning, 3D models, environmental, ecoritical, artwork, artistic research, digital fabrication, Conceptual art, research, west virginia, electracy, autobiography
date	28/11/2019
published	14/10/2020
last modified	14/10/2020
status	published
copyright	Aaron Williams
license	CC BY-NC-ND
language	American English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/748182/748183
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/vis.748182
published in	VIS - Nordic Journal for Artistic Research
portal issue	4. VIS Issue 4
external link	www.ernieroby.com

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Reclamation : Exposing Coal Seams and Appalachian Fatalism with Digital Apparatuses (2020)

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