OU SoA Critical Regionalism Initiative Spaces Installation
The newly formed Ohio University School of Art Critical Regionalism Initiative focuses on this region and an examination of coal mining in Southeast Ohio. The group will premiere their project for this exhibition, bringing the ideas of site-specificity in contemporary art into fruitful contact with the work of both governmental agencies and nongovernmental activists on a range of regional issues.
The following images are from the installation at Spaces Gallery in Cleveland OH
Shawnee Silhouettes
Hand drawn silhouettes of the porches of Shawnee Ohio. This architecture style is unique to the the micro region of The Little Cities of Black Diamonds in South-east Ohio.
Ghosts of Repetition – Shawnee
The following high resolution surface scans are taken with the MPSU (mobile platen scanning unit). These images, upon inspection, reveal a glimpse of the decline from a once thriving community center to the meager town that Shawnee is today.
In these scans, time is compressed; past becomes present, present becomes future, the artificial and natural co-mingle and the artifacts become “ghosts of repetition”.
MPSU Shawnee 091204
Another cold day on the streets of Shawnee with the mobile platen scanning unit (MPSU). From time to time the MPSU requires more hands thank I have and on this trip I had an assistant with me, Kent Cubbage.
We explored the main street of Shawnee finding our way in to the rarely opened antiques store. We walked in and the door jingled a bell over our heads. Two old men craned their necks around to see who it was. The coal fed pot belly stove in the middle of the room gave a welcome warmth. The propriter and his friend were kind but dismissive to our strange motivations as we searched the interior of the building.
Back out into the cold. We encountered the pile of coal and lumber that the old men were using to keep warm. The few remaining traces of ice crystals from the season's first snow remained in the shadows of once noble buildings.
MPSU in Shawnee
This afternoon was a cold one in Shawnee and it was as empty as a ghost town. In stark contrast, beneath every fallen leaf and embedded in every patch of dirt, artifacts of this community's previous glory were abundant.
The following high resolution surface scans are taken with the MPSU (mobile platen scanning unit). These images, upon inspection, reveal a glimpse of the decline from a once thriving community center to the meager town that Shawnee is today.
In these scans, time is compressed; past becomes present, present becomes future, the artificial and natural co-mingle and the artifacts become "ghosts of repetition"*.
* - "ghosts of repetition" is a phrase coined by W. G. Sebald. I came across this phrase in the article An Archival Impulse by Hal Foster (October 110, Fall 2004 pp 3 - 22).
A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
This movie is a major inspiration for my recent body of work. The impending oil crash is in many ways analogous with the coal crash in south east Ohio, specifically Shawnee.
Downloadable resources from the film's Website
Shawnee Main Street Expedition
The following images are an early iteration of exhibition of my time travelling body of work.
The video seen on the screen and / or in the head mounted display unit is the following:
Shawnee Main Street Expedition from Jeff Lovett on Vimeo.
The following video is objective documentation of the Shawnee Main Street Expedition:
Shawnee Main street Expedition Documentation from Jeff Lovett on Vimeo.
LCBD Porch Icon
The Little Cities of Black Diamonds is a micro-region in Southeast Ohio and the locus for my research. This area prospered greatly during the coal boom from the mid 19th century until its crash in the early 20th century.
The buildings in this micro-region have second story porches. These porches, and their decay, exemplify both the historical prosperity and the subsequent economic decline of the last 80 years.
Below is an iconic sketch based on these unique architectural elements.
Time Travel Statement
Jeff Lovett
Artist Statement:
I am a time traveler and my destination is 80 years in the future.
I gather experiential data that consists of video taken of myself, by myself, on my exploration. Upon my return I create drawings of the unique architectural identifiers of the places I visit.
me⋅ton⋅y⋅my
[mi-ton-uh-mee]
–noun Rhetoric.
a figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related, or of which it is a part.
Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.
The Little Cities of Black Diamonds is a micro-region in Southeast Ohio and the locus for my research. This area prospered greatly during the coal boom from the mid 19th century until its crash in the early 20th century. When I am exploring these places I am experiencing them as the metonymy for a future world that has suffered an identical crash from the oil boom that is currently peaking.
Shawnee Main Street Expedition is a video to be viewed through a head-mounted display. The video was created using the Third Person Pack. This device is a wireframe backpack that provides a third person view by positioning the camera several feet behind and above the body of operator. The imagery captured by the camera is viewed live and recorded through the head-mounted display unit. On my expeditions this pack acts as my time machine, transporting me 80 years into the future. With this in mind, I am able to see relics from the past as a direct representation of a possible future and record those findings as experiential data.
Shawnee Main Street Silhouettes are drawings of the porches unique to the Little Cities of Black Diamonds micro-region. They are 14” x 17” marker on paper. These porches exemplify both the historical prosperity and the subsequent economic decline of the last 80 years.
My exploration of this micro-region as a historical metonymy for the next 80 years of our future gives me the opportunity to accumulate firsthand experience of this region.
It is my intention to continue my travels into the future and develop a stronger understanding of our trajectory toward this point in our future and what can be done to divert our course. I will continue to research and document my travels with the best time travel equipment that current technology has to offer.
Little Cities of Black Diamonds Research Trip 01
I am conducting research trips in to the Little Cities of Black Diamonds (LCBD) in an attempt to collect visual and experiential data on the micro region's unique "finger print"
My first trip intentional venture into the region to gather data was motivated by the collection of photographic documentation of the cantilevered second story porches that seem to be unique to the micro-region.
This led me on a path from Athens through Nelsonville on US33 then north on OH78 through the towns of Butchel and Murray City. At Murry City I changed to OH216 north to New Straitsville, passing the Essex Mine Doser project and subsidence outlet on the way, which is always a treat. In New Straitsville, I accidentally deviated from my intended path to Shawnee by following OH93 south towards Logan. I realized my mistake and turned north on OH668 towards Junction City. This took me out of the LCBD micro region. The differences in landscape were there but subtle, the differences in architecture and town layout were dramatic. At Junction City, I turned on to OH37 east to New Lexington. New Lexington is the county seat for Perry county and a beautiful town, but still very different from the LCBD. From New Lexington I followed OH93 south to Shawnee. Shawnee is, in some ways the best preserved town from the coal mining boom of the late 19th and early 20th century and an excellent example of the nuances of the LCBD micro region. From Shawnee I drove OH155 through the small towns of Hemlock and Drake, both of which were very interesting and deserve further exploration when time permits, to the city of Corning. From Corning I followed the more familiar route OH13 south to Athens through the towns of Burr Oaks, Glouster, Trimble, Jacksonville and Cauncey.
Recent Posts
- Thesis Proposal Abstract
- Preliminary Coal Ball Scan
- Big Muskie: King of the Giants
- Coal collecting and Mine Tour
- Archive Coal Cut-out
- OU SoA Critical Regionalism Initiative Spaces Installation
- Strange Geoglyphs Discovered Beneath Clearcut Amazon
- “… IN A MOST DANGEROUS MANNER”
- Shawnee Silhouettes
- Installation: OU-SoA Critical Regionalism Initiative
- Nelsonville Bypass: American Reinvestment and Recovery Act
- Appalachian Carboniferous Map
- Big Muskie First Person
- MPSU – Acid Mine Drainage
- Ghosts of Repetition – Shawnee
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