Muckers c. 1935 - 1943

John Charles Haley made this lithograph print called 'Muckers', but we don't know exactly when. It's all about these really fine lines, a kind of cross-hatching that gives the whole scene this dense, slightly claustrophobic feel. The surface has so much detail, it's like Haley is building up the image layer by layer with nothing but pencil. Look at the way he uses the lines to create shadows on the miners faces, or how he gives weight to the machinery surrounding them. There is a box in the lower left corner of the picture labelled ‘Dynamite’ – Yikes! It's this incredible feat of control, but also kind of obsessive, like he's trying to capture every little detail of this underground world. This kind of methodical approach reminds me of other artists, like Agnes Martin, who explored similar ideas of labor and process, but with much more minimal means. And, as in their work, the meaning isn't fixed. Instead we're left to ponder the beauty and the weight of it all.