Friday, May 1, 2009
A Life of Coal
Photographs by Ken Hassell
Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
DIRECTIONS: http://cds.aas.duke.edu/about/here.html
<http://cds.aas.duke.edu/about/here.html> On a regular basis, the Center for Documentary Studies and the Southern Documentary Fund <http://southerndocumentaryfund.org/> invite documentary artists to share their work in progress or recently finished projects with an enthusiastic and supportive audience. Please join us for this ongoing conversation about documentary work in its many forms. A happy-hour gathering, Docudropby4fun, will start at 6:30 p.m. before Fresh Docs. All presentations begin at 7:30 p.m.; presentations are followed by a moderated conversation about the work.
A Life of Coal is a documentary project researched and created in collaboration with the people of central Appalachia. The sole purpose of this work is to engage audiences in deeper and more appreciative understanding of the people and issues of the region, to begin to view Appalachia less as an atypical and „primitive‰ aberration and more as an intensely post-colonialist microcosm of human and political issues in low-income communities throughout the United States. The people from this region have been and continue to be the butt of fierce stereotypes of incest, ignorance, bestiality, substance abuse and, generally, wanton behavior. This project is intended to help assuage those demeaning concepts through exhibitions, presentations, lectures, and writing on the complexity and diversity of mountain cultures.
Ken Hassell, Associate Professor in the Art Department at Elon University, has received numerous grants and fellowships from the Southern Arts Federation, North Carolina Arts Council, and Elon University, among other organization. His active exhibition and visiting artist schedule includes a wide range of venues, from the traditional white cube (gallery) to small-town community centers. These include The Light Factory, Virginia Intermont College, Fairmont State College, and the towns of Dante and Wise, Virginia. He has also presented his research at conferences, including the Society for Photographic Education and the Appalachian Studies Association. The Nantahala Review, an online journal, features his images, text, and oral commentary in an interactive, podcast site.