The Absence Above, A Presence Below: Re-Envisioning Centralia, Pennsylvania

There are multiple presences of the past that are embedded into the Centralia landscape. Even in the absence of a social community, Centralia remains a place of continuing occupation. At present, there are multiple representations of this occupied place, many of which, however, denote negative imagery (“Hell on Earth”). An alternative approach to what remains of Centralia is presented here. A site-specific performance, digging deep to “unearth” the multiple layers of a coal mining community, is explored.