(Images by Meghan
Kirkwood 2016 - Archival Pigment Print)
Fracking the Grid:
Views from an Energy Landscape is an exhibition by Meghan Kirkwood running
in artSPACE durban’s Middle Gallery:
The exhibition presents landscape photographs that describe
the dynamic, 81,000 hectare Bakken region in western North Dakota. Since 2009,
natural resource extraction activities in the oil field have increased at a
dramatic rate and transformed this portion of the state in marked ways. For
many long-term residents, the rapid installation of oil pads, pipelines, roads,
and commercial infrastructure has reshaped the region beyond recognition.
This series looks closely at the instances and increments in
which the Bakken landscape is morphing into a different place. Rather than
highlight the explosion of “man-camps,” oil jacks, and influx of temporary
workers, these images draw attention to the subtler shifts that cut open and
reshape a familiar territory into a new setting.
The high-paced development of the Bakken region since 2009
in response to new, horizontal drilling technologies represents a new phase in
the long history of natural resource extraction in the area, which was first
settled in the late 19th century by homesteaders and Bonanza farmers after the
expansion of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1873. Prior to 2009, the area
witnessed two previous oil booms and a sustained coal mining industry.
Many long-term residents describe the 2009 boom as
disruptive and feel that differs substantially from earlier peaks in
production. They cite the changing visual landscape as a primary source of dissatisfaction. For these
individuals, the increased presence of oil companies and workers creates social
and economic tensions, but these impacts do not have the psychic impact of
grassland conversion, exponential increases oil pads, dust, commercial
advertisements along formerly vacant roads, and informal housing communities in
previously open range.
This exhibition explores these transformations in the
physical landscape and presents them as an important context to the
high-profile discussion of oil-boom impacts in Bakken communities. The
landscape photographs show an environment cut open, reshaped,and patched over
as a result of man-made industries. Eschewing the sensationalist, these
photographs display the landscape in moments of repose, and attempt to
highlight the quiet calm many residents perceive in the area, even as it
rapidly transforms.
Fracking the Grid:
Views from an Energy Landscape until 18 August 2016. artSPACE durban is
situated at 3 Millar Road (off Umgeni Road) close to the Waste Centre. More
information on 031 312 0793 or visit www.artspacedurban.co.za or www.artspacedurban.blogspot.com
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