Disconnection to the Land

Have you ever read a sign that tells you to look at something only to look in that direction and see nothing? In the reclamation process of land from former coal mining sites, that’s just what it’s like. I sometimes see signs that say “Mine Reclamation Project” and see nothing but a bunch of trees, bushes or a field of grass. This visual deception lies at the complexity of mine reclamation and at what I’m trying to do with the visual representation of the phenomenon. The scars left by mining are at times so subtle to the unknowing eye; people who have lived their entire lives in Ohio have said to me, “I had no idea there was mining in Ohio.” This is a coal company’s dream but a place of concern. What coal mining does to the landscape is often covered by an illusion of normalcy. A sign like this may point to a reclaimed coal treatment pond that looks like any other murky water, but the reality is this natural setting is forever altered by man.