Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 4.04 Environment
Presentation #1 Title
Dangerous Waters: Interpreting the Contemporary Landscape of the Tennessee Valley Authority
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This paper and accompanying photo essay investigates the contemporary landscape of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Taken from my most recent photograph portfolio Dangerous Waters, the images discuss the social and cultural definitions of landscapes that were created for social welfare and regional development, yet are currently defined as landscapes of poverty and historicized industry. Cultural and personal definitions of landscape are affected by ownership and desire. When defining a particular landscape, current land use is just as influential as memory. The line between culture and nature is fluid and provocative. As a society we routinely make ecological, social, and economic compromises for the potential of progress. How do those compromises play out generations later? These photographs chronicle the visual fissures seen when landscapes are simultaneously utilized for hydroelectric power production and public recreation. They are images of the infrastructure that controls a river and the surrounding public area around those locations. To those that live and work there, the landscape is one of compromise. The sacrifices are privately internalized and the social benefits publicly celebrated. TVA and the Tennessee Valley region serve as a case study for understanding the long-term social and economic effects of such actions as population removal, eminent domain, and government-mandated regional development. Ultimately, TVA has cultivated a manicured landscape of power and ownership, utilitarian in practice and utopian in concept. These images investigate the social, political, economic, and ecological narratives of these locations.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Micah Cash is an adjunct professor of Art at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. He investigates how landscapes and their social histories influence cultural geography. His paintings and photographs contemplate the social, economic, and political forces that define particular landscapes, as well as the cultures that are dependent upon them. Micah received his MFA from the University of Connecticut and his BFA from the University of South Carolina.
Dangerous Waters: Interpreting the Contemporary Landscape of the Tennessee Valley Authority
This paper and accompanying photo essay investigates the contemporary landscape of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Taken from my most recent photograph portfolio Dangerous Waters, the images discuss the social and cultural definitions of landscapes that were created for social welfare and regional development, yet are currently defined as landscapes of poverty and historicized industry. Cultural and personal definitions of landscape are affected by ownership and desire. When defining a particular landscape, current land use is just as influential as memory. The line between culture and nature is fluid and provocative. As a society we routinely make ecological, social, and economic compromises for the potential of progress. How do those compromises play out generations later? These photographs chronicle the visual fissures seen when landscapes are simultaneously utilized for hydroelectric power production and public recreation. They are images of the infrastructure that controls a river and the surrounding public area around those locations. To those that live and work there, the landscape is one of compromise. The sacrifices are privately internalized and the social benefits publicly celebrated. TVA and the Tennessee Valley region serve as a case study for understanding the long-term social and economic effects of such actions as population removal, eminent domain, and government-mandated regional development. Ultimately, TVA has cultivated a manicured landscape of power and ownership, utilitarian in practice and utopian in concept. These images investigate the social, political, economic, and ecological narratives of these locations.
