Centralia: The Bitter Absence of All Life is a 9x9″ publication about the Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire accompanied with a small-scale campaign with topical merchandise. The title itself is visually driven: featuring hand drawn illustration and photography. The photos are both salvaged from the past and are shot in today to showcase the towns bleak present.
Illustration within the book has a bare bones and childlike quality. Inspired by 90’s music graphics from bands such as Pageninetynine and Godspeed you! Black Emperor. Symbols from the Henry Dreyfus Symbol Source book also appear within the work, often accompanying the photography. The book also features experimental handwritten type and calligraphy done with a dip pen in order to get blotches and drips from the ink.
The contemporary photography features shots that are taken directly from roaming the empty town streets as well as aerial shots from a drone. Even though the houses are gone, an above view still shows the basic grid of a town that once was.
Back of book reads:
In 1962 a small town in Pennsylvania and its inhabitants would succumb to a cruel irony. Ignited by firefighters, a fire would trigger the slow and tragic downfall of Centralia. Spreading into ground, the inferno would devour the coal buried deep beneath homes: causing the dwellings of generations to be wiped off the face of the earth. Little persists today, but the bitter absence of all life.
Featuring photographs, and illustrations: this publication gives a look into the history of Centralia. It explores the towns founding, coal mining industry, tragic downfall, and what the town looks like today.
Introduction
Centralia's Founding
Coal Mining
The Ignition
The Beginning of The End
The Curse
Centralia Today
Merchandise
The Centralia: The bitter Absence of All Life t-shirts are an updated variation of the shirts that the Concerned Citizens Group created back in the 1980's. When the fire started effecting the town this group advocated and made known nationwide of the issue ailing the town. In 2024 however, the life of even the destructive fire is now gone, as it is largely invisible and deep underground. Both t-shirts showcase illustrations from the book and handwritten calligraphy, as well as symbols on the back relating to the illustration.
The black shirt features an illustration that serves as almost a timeline for the town. From their average happy lives, to their homes being condemned and eventually torn down. All the while the fire is raging beneath them. The symbol on the back indicated that a fire has started near by.
The white shirt features a depiction of the cruel irony of the ignition of the fire that ended up destroying Centralia: a firefighter sparing fire into a mine. The back features a symbol depicting a fireman's hat.
Todd Domboski was outside at his grandma’s house and fell into a sink hole. Holding onto a root in the ground, his brother happened to walk by and see Todd’s bright orange hat in the ground. His brother then pulled him put of the ground. This story made nationwide headlines, and elicited a response from the federal government.
