Installed in Centralia, PA in 2021, The Dysfunctional Safety Lamp is a site-specific artwork inspired by mining carbide lamps. These original lamps produced a stronger flame when exposed to dangerous conditions, acting as an early warning sign for miners about rising levels of firedamp.

In our site specific installation, a column that takes the form of a dysfunctional safety lamp visualizing gas, temperature, and soil data collected in Centralia since 1962.

This installation not only references the historic function of the safety lamp but also serves as a contemporary indicator, translating decades of environmental data into a physical presence on the site. By incorporating visual cues that shift in response to changes in the underlying data, the column becomes an evolving record of Centralia’s subterranean transformations, inviting viewers to engage with the ongoing narrative of the landscape and its industrial legacy.