Proposed Field Trips

The works in this exhibit are an artistic approach to the geographer’s traditional concerns— why does what happens happen where & where it does, how does it happen, & whom does it affect? The focus of the exhibit seems to lay on a sensory, subjective experience of public (especially urban) space rather than the dirty details of city planning.

In short, I suspect that this exhibit is heavy on aesthetics, light on actual geography, but what the hell: free admission!

Miller Gallery
at Carnegie Mellon University
Purnell Center for the Arts
5000 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Sunday, 12-6pm
Closed Mondays

From the website:
“The manifestations of “experimental geography” (a term coined by geographer Trevor Paglen in 2002) run the gamut of contemporary art practice today: sewn cloth cities that spill out of suitcases, bus tours through water treatment centers, performers climbing up the sides of buildings, and sound works capturing the buzz of electric waves on the power grid. In the hands of contemporary artists, the study of humanity’s engagement with the earth’s surface becomes a riddle best solved in experimental fashion. The exhibition presents a panoptic view of this new practice, through a wide range of mediums including sound and video installations, photography, sculpture, and experimental cartography.”

This field trip would require cars & money, and might not make sense unless combined with other destinations. Still, I find it fascinating & would love to talk to residents.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsy...

From Wikipedia:
Centralia is a borough and ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005¹ and 9 in 2007,² as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia is now the least-populous municipality in Pennsylvania, with four fewer residents than the borough of S.N.P.J.