Installed

The "Coal in Alberta" show is now open at the Crowsnest Pass Public Gallery.  The gallery is located in Frank, just a short distance away from the Frank Slide Interpretive Center.  Unfortunately I was not able to stay in Crowsnest Pass long enough to see the show installed.  But my friend and collaborator, Fred, was able to stay in the area for a couple of extra days.  He saw the show once it had been installed and advised that it looked really good.  He took a bunch of snapshots of the installation and sent them to me.  I have attached them below.

The Artist Statement for the show goes like this...

C O A L   I N   A L B E R T A

A journey to obsolescence

 

Over the span of the last 140 years, carbon, in all its forms and for good or evil, has irremediably been linked to the economic and social fibre of Alberta. Indigenous peoples knew of it for 12,000 years, but it was not until the 1700s that references to coal appeared in European journals.  Those Europeans who came and stayed, knew the significance of coal.  Coal is fairly ubiquitous as a mineral in this province.  It was mined in many places and until the early 1950s it commanded the energy landscape.  It heated our homes, powered our railroads, and provided power to an expanding electrical grid.  Thereafter, it was replaced by oil and gas for transportation and heating, but it had retained its importance for power generation and industrial processes.

Oil and gas have been the principal energy industry, largely taking the place of coal in Alberta for much of the past sixty years.   The carbon-based economy and livelihood, as we knew it, is now subject to continuous debate on economic and environmental terms.  A low carbon future for the western world is what many see as "The Future," and they believe Alberta is out of step. Rightly or wrongly, this view is widely held.

Concerning coal, on the one hand Alberta has tried to adapt.  The former government mandated a transition away from thermal coal to other inputs for power generation: natural gas, wind and solar.  Alberta's power generating companies are already well ahead of the mandated schedule for this transition.   Surprisingly, existing mines in the eastern slopes are exporting thermal coal.  So, despite the government mandate, thermal coal is not entirely on the way out. 

Then, there is the other hand.  In 1976, policy was adopted that prevented or very severely limited any coal mining in the foothills and on the eastern slopes of the Rockies.  The area was considered to be too ecologically important to allow it to be spoiled by mining.  Some mining continued, but essentially at existing operating sites.  More than four decades later, without public consultation or notice, the 1976 policy was rescinded.  In the Spring of 2020, it was announced that new permits for mining in the foothills and on the eastern slopes would be considered by the provincial government.  As soon as the change in policy was announced, the provincial outcry was loud, sustained, and widely based.  The government has heard and recently reversed the 2020 decision.  Public consultation is to occur but at the time of this writing there are no details yet.  The outcome is uncertain.

Public interest in the future of energy in the province is at an unprecedented level.  In the case of coal, there is both general support for the transition away from thermal use for power generation and demonstrable progress toward meeting this goal. For metallurgical coal, a strong level of opposition to expansion into the foothills and the eastern slopes persists.  All parties await the consultation process that the government has promised. 

Enter the Monochrome Guild.  The Guild is a group of film-based photographers founded in Edmonton twenty years ago.  The processes we use to create our art predate Albertans' use of these carbon resources by some thirty years.  A small collective within our group have been working since 2015, to document both what remains of the coal industry of the past and contrast it with that of today, and possibly tomorrow.  

For us, what started as an ideal subject to demonstrate our art form has taken on a much broader emphasis - current affairs.  Art may have a wider emphasis in society than its creators first anticipated.  This may well apply here; the viewers will decide.

Our exhibition attempts to illustrate the past history of the coal industry in Alberta.  We have also chosen to include some pieces that present the impact and scope of the modern industry.  The monochrome print perfectly showcases the look and feel of what one imagines the coal industry to be like.  The grit and coarseness and the dark and black mood of some of the work is intended to reflect the artist's interpretation of the industry.  Historically it was a very difficult existence for the men and women that dedicated their lives and well-being to an industry and a resource that was both demanding and sometimes deadly.  A walk through a cemetery in any of the old mining towns paints a grim picture.  Many lives were shortened by hardship, health issues and accidents and this is demonstrated in our interpretation of these memorials. Yet the dream of prosperity proved irresistible, and the industry forged ahead undeterred. 

Our exhibit also touches on the present, and hints at what the future might bring.  It is our goal to present some realistic visual direction as to where we have come from, and where we may be going.  Our artists demonstrate the hardship and the costs of the industry in both human and environmental terms.  Certainly, coal provided a huge benefit to society, but our work reveals the true toll it has taken.

Our belief is that a return to coal mining in Alberta is destined to repeat the past and create the same issues and impacts, for what many deem to be, diminishing returns. It is our intention to sway the viewer to recognize the importance of the upcoming decisions and make the right choices for the future of our province.  One thing is certain: The future of coal in Alberta has placed our society at a crossroads. It is our hope that this exhibition will stimulate some meaningful reflection and consideration on this important matter.  

Only traditional black and white film methods are used to create the pieces to be displayed.  The use of old techniques and chemistry stand in perfect harmony with the history of coal. Since the evolution of digital photography, many people may have forgotten or may not even know what is required to produce a traditional black and white silver gelatin print.  The photographer visualizes the image he wishes to create.  The photograph is taken, and the film developed by the artist, resulting in a negative.  The process continues in the darkroom where the the negative is used to create an image on light sensitive paper. Success is defined as a print which both conveys the artist's initial visualization and is also technically perfect.  Prints that meet both these criteria are the basis of this photographic exhibit. 

The Monochrome Guild

FB, NG, AP, RP, CS.