Separation By Extraction: The Gordon Coal Mines, 2008, Coal pilings, wood, chicken wire, fiberglass mesh, cheesecloth, 14 X 10 X 3 feet.
Ludlow Remembered, The Pueblo Chieftain, June 2008, Front Page.
SEPARATION BY EXTRACTION was made on an abandoned coal mine off Highway 69 in Southern Colorado called The Gordon Mines. The project explored the possibilities of land reformation and rehabilitation. The "A" frame filters where used to sift through the remnants of the coal mine in search of something signifying Life. The creation of the Gordon Mine coincided with the 94th anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre, in which the Colorado National Guard burned the tent colony of 1,200 miners resulting in the death of many miners and there families. I attended the ceremony and was captured by the Pueblo Chieftain's photographer sitting on the monument listening to the captivating and emotional speeches of miners and former Senator George McGovern, The image was published on the front page the next morning.
My initial exploration of the coal mines along HWY 69, in the vicinity of Walsenberg, CO, revealed an array of mine shafts, empty concrete foundations, red & black mounds of mining remnants, empty cattle pens, and cart tracks that led to nowhere. Calumet #2 stuck out of the ground like a WWII bunker, with thick black prison bars that kept us from the dark spaces of the tunnel where so many men and children have gone to extract fossil fuels deep within the seems of the earth. READ MORE