Subterranean Estates

12/13: The time was 4AM when I left the hotel, hopping a taxi out of Helsinki for the airport, catching the 6:30 flight to Frankfurt, then the long haul to SFO International.

I dreamt enroute that the KLM flight required a promotional fly-by to provide passengers with a quick glance of off-shore oil platform laborers.

The images that flashed across my retina were of Paul Bunyan sized figures, waving toward the aircraft, leaning off the platform with one hand holding the side of the rig.

Of course, this was likely conjured from the purpose of my flight itself, purchased specifically so that I would arrive back in time to attend the editorial meeting of a nearly completed book with nineteen authors reflecting on oil and gas industry, with fellow co-editors Hannah Appel and Michael Watts titled:

Subterranean

Estates:

Lifeworlds of Oil and Gas

The book will be published on Cornell University Press in 2014.

Our meeting took place at Michael’s home in San Francisco, where we covered a variety of topics in lively debate. Michael brought out his photography book collection on oil and gas images, and we had a chance to discuss how we plan to address the rich imagery invoked by the industry.













The above image is of Hannah Appel looking through the photographic images. Below, I have reposted the top image from a different angle, in order to provide a sense of the collective nature of our productive discussion. We gathered in Michael’s kitchen, in San Francisco, and talked for about 2 hours, over tea and biscuits.