Topic: Coal River Mountain

Coal river mountain has been the current mountaintop removal news story for the past few weeks due to the initiation of a mining site by Massey Energy. The reason it's so notable is because of the proposals to create a wind farm along the ridges instead of blasting it to pieces for coal. Studies have shown that the area has high wind potential, creating energy, jobs, and revenue in the same way that a strip mine would but without all the environmental damage and community health effects. Because of this potential for a much greener energy usage it had become somewhat of an icon in the movement against coal, and the initiation of the strip mine there just goes to show how much an influence the coal industry has on the American energy market, holding it back even where a path has been cleared to move forward. As of very recently the blasting has been halted, at least temporarily, so there may still be hope.

This mountain lies just south of Kayford where I visited, and the operation can be seen off in the distance from Larry Gibson's mountaintop. The Coal River itself, which runs through the valley, was named so because John Peter Salley discovered coal nearby and on its banks in 1749. To quote Judy Bonds who was interviewed in the film Coal Country, "If he had known what agony it would have caused, he’d have covered it up and kept his mouth shut."

Coal River mountain is the distant mountain, beyond the Kayford Mtn site in the foreground of the picture above.

Visiting Artist? 'Coal Country' Screening

I'm not sure if this counts as a visiting artist either, but I attended a screening of a documentary film titled 'Coal Country,' on Wednesday. It's about as relevant to my portfolio work as you can get, presenting a very eye-opening take on the mountaintop removal issue. It contained some really great footage and even better information and interviews. Some of the interesting facts include:

-Only 3% of mountaintop removal is actually true mountaintop removal; the rest would fall into the category of mountain removal if there was one.

-The major coal areas in WV are thought to actually be held back economically, so that people essentially have the choice of working as a coal miner with little to no benefits or union support, or working in fast food. The areas of WV that are in fact expanding are those that bring in tourists, which for obvious reasons are separate from the mining areas.

-The elk, such as those that I photographed, were actually captured in the west and released, or 'stocked,' on the reclaimed mining sites, as the eastern elk variety has been extinct for almost 150 years. The stocking brings in hunting revenue and helps glorify the reclamation process.

-There's been an extensive legal battle over mountaintop removal for years. Whenever the case against MTR makes it to an upper court it is always turned down for one reason or another.

The film contains a lot of great old mountain music and, while obviously still a subjective take on the issue, presents arguments from both sides pretty fairly.

http://www.coalcountrythemovie.com/

Visiting Artist? Dr Peter Smallwood

Not technically an artist but I went to see Peter Smallwood's, lecture titled "Wildlife Conservation in Conflict Zones," held in the Pace Center church on Wednesday. He's a University of Richmond professor and Wildlife Conservation Society worker, and the most intriguing thing I found out in his lecture was how biodiverse Afghanistan, the country in which he's been working, really is. I've always thought of the place as essentially a desert, but in fact there are many different environments including high altitude, middle highlands, and wetlands, that all house a wide variety of species. For example there are a total of 9 different native cat species, and until just recently that number was in the double digits. One of them, the snow leopard, lives in the mountains on the NE strip extending from the country, and is extremely rare. It was only fairly recently that it was even caught on film. The country also has black bears very similar to ours, porcupines, and even flamingos.

















He also stressed the importance of working with the local people since, as I touched on in earlier posts, their needs must often be met in order to protect those of the wildlife. This is especially the case there, as the biggest threat to the wildlife is overpopulation. While the highlands were generally a safe-haven, conservationists had to be weary when working in the mainland areas, as over 2/3 of it is considered very insecure and susceptible to conflict. He also spoke about his efforts to create Band-i-Amir National Park, located in one of the most rigid and beautiful areas of the country that represents the closest icon of national identity that the people have. The landscape is splintered with jagged peaks and lakes that can actually be raised above the ground, held by ribbon-like walls of rock. I've never seen anything like it before. The final thing he mentioned that I found interesting were the opportunities that students back in Richmond had to take part in the efforts. They assisted in documenting the country's species, and even took part in a video conference with the local scientists.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=170813083434&ref=mf
http://wildlifeconservationnetwork.org/index.html

Artist: Mitch Epstein

Mitch Epstein is a very popular photographer who lives in New York city. He has published a number of books, but his most recent book "American Power" consists of photographs taken over 5 years, documenting how the most energy-profligate nation generates and uses its energy. As I can relate to from my experiences, he had an incredibly difficult time doing this during America's post 9/11 state of paranoia. He was regularly stopped, searched, and questioned. He describes the pictures as:

"[showing the] beauty and terror of early 21st-century America as it clings to past comforts and gropes for a more sensible future… of America teetering between collapse and transformation."

"Clinging to past comforts" is probably one of the biggest reasons that coal power is still around today, and Epstein seems to depict that along with the rest of our power system as a whole with a very keen eye. Though I couldn't find any pictures of MTR, he apparently covers it in the book as well. Nonetheless, I'm definitely going to try to find a copy if I can.






































http://www.mitchepstein.net/index.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/03/mitch-epstein-power-plants-photographs

Topic: Kayford Mountain and Larry Gibson

Larry Gibson is a short, simple man with a dog named 'dog.' But that's not all. He also represents the biggest resistance to mountaintop removal that I've come across so far. His home on Kayford Mountain in WV used to reside on the lowest peak, but after some 20 years of mountaintop removal on the surrounding mountains it is now the highest. There he stands off against the mining company that, after nearly exhausting all the surrounding land, seeks the $450 billion in coal underneath his home as well. Instead of giving in as so many have done, he started the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, setting up a public park and informing the country of what is happening to Kayford and hundreds of mountains across the Appalachia. Along with giving lectures and tours to anyone that stops by, he also travels around the country to speak at colleges and universities. The picture to the right shows him speaking to a group of students in front of "Hell's Gate," or where his property ends and the coal company's begins. Travel just up the road and you can witness first-hand one of the most tragic examples of environmental destruction ever hosted by our country. On the map, the site easily appears to be one of the largest out of all of them.
Without plumbing or electricity, Gibson along with a small community of friends and family are holding off the advances made by the mining company. He's had dogs killed, sheds burned to the ground, drive-by shootings, and death threats to try to scare him off the mountain, but still prevails. Seeing this site and hearing Gibson talk about all that has happened, a childhood full of experiences in a wilderness that is now gone forever and the hardships of preserving his family's land and promoting his cause, has really motivated me more than ever.


< taking a small group to see the site








< the desecration extends for miles












< Some of the other friendly Kayford Mtn dwellers.








< If the mountain is lost, Gibson's family graveyard will be stripped and bulldozed.

Midterm Crit Video Response

I started off pretty shaky right off the bat, scratching my neck and shifting positions too often. I also think I could have planned out my words much better; I winged it a little too much and sort of talked myself in circles conceptually, periodically pausing to think. I should have jumped into the slideshow right after introducing my new concept, but instead I ended up rambling on for another 30 -45 seconds about nothing that was particularly beneficial to the crit.

The first slide went badly. I did a poor job of explaining how that first image related to what I had just introduced as my concept, and as I struggled explaining it I kept stopping with "um...," which broke up my sentences and probably confused people even more. Once I got into the actual photos of mountaintop removal sites I did better though, and the fact that the lights were shut off and the attention of the class was away from me towards the projected images definitely helped. This topic is what I had been researching for the week or so prior to that, so that along with the fact that conceptually it's a lot more straightforward and concrete made it much easier to explain. While the small room was good for speaking, I kept turning toward the computer screen to change slides allowing my voice to fade, losing some key words. These explanations, like the early ones, could definitely have used some more planning as well. While the concept was still very new even to me, I think I could have come up with a better adjective than "pretty crazy" to describe the atrocities I had observed and researched.

The lights came back on for the class' comments, which went on much longer than I remembered. Once again I looked too uncomfortable and did a bad job of explaining why the mountaintop removal sites are more of a problem than the commercial expansions. I had my hands on my hips or in my pockets for much of this, as well as the rest of the crit, and it would have been much better to keep my hands formally folded when I didn't need them to help visualize what I was saying.

So all in all it was below average, even to my low public speaking standards.



Tom's face says it all...








I had a chuckle at the last frame too..