Neal Galloway
Artist
Coal Series
A series of artworks about the use of coal for electricity production. These works reference and literally use coal, providing viewers the chance to interact with a substance that they intimately rely on, but have likely never touched before. Coal is a problematic source of energy: dangerous to obtain, dirty to burn, and one of the biggest causes of environmental pollution throughout the world.
But coal is also an incredible substance: a tightly wound deep-black lump of potential energy. We owe it our high standard of living, steady affordable electricity supply, and the rate of progress this affords. Can we honor and condemn it at the same time? Does coal represent our past, present, or our future?
Coal, Mirrors 9ft x 6.5ft x 3ft 2014
Rammed Earth (compacted dirt column), glass bell jar, coal
Rammed Earth (compacted dirt column), glass bell jar, coal
Rammed Earth (compacted dirt column), glass bell jar, coal
Cut book. Shape follows the outline of the largest open pit coal mine in the United States
Cut book. Shape follows the outline of the largest open pit coal mine in the United States
