Martina M. Shenal
 
 

mine
a room
tags
naming one's remain
a voice
rotating stories observed
filling
emptying places
vacant shaft sifting water

late november daybreak
hearing distance
spitting snow
billowing smoke below stands
frozen

ten days
snowing
telephone waiting
sifting
pouring
flooding
limestone fires
honoring memory
sealing
mine

The phrase "six right of 7 south parallel" refers to a location inside the Consolidated #9 mine in Farmington, West Virginia. At 5:27 a.m. on 20 November 1968, a methane gas explosion left 78 men trapped 700 ft below the surface. A series of smaller explosions occurred over the next 10 days, prompting mine officials to seal the mine. Recovery efforts continued through 1978, with 59 of the 78 miners accounted for. Nineteen remain and are believed to be in the Llewelyn portal-six right of 7 south parallel. A part of my family's history lies buried in that shaft.

One of six kinetic pieces from the installation Six Right of 7 South is a film loop (Fig. 1) that combines 16-mm black-and- white footage shot inside the Canterbury Coal mine and still photographs of the wash house. The film sequences focus on a shift change, with miners entering and disappearing into the mine. The continuous loop runs through a steel conveyor (1 x 5 x 28 ft) and is projected onto a free-standing frame of glass. A second afterimage hovers on the wall behind the first screen.