Journey to the End of Coal

Part documentary, part game, Journey to the End of Coal is a stirring experience that brings the harsh reality of coal extraction directly to the user. Journey to the end of coal was a project that started in 2008 under two French authors, Abel Ségrétin and Samuel Bollendorff, with the goal of creating an interactive experience that weaved in authentic experience and testimonials for maximum educational value and impact. It is a first-person experience, with some latitude for the user to choose their own adventure, with their choices impacting their character and their journey in, through, or out of the Chinese coal mining industry. The authors collected a variety of multimedia to insert into the game, including videos, pictures, and in-person interviews. Journey to the End of Coal shows both the detriment to the environment, but also the human toll of harsh resource extraction. In the end, the user will hopefully feel an expanded sense of ecological consciousness and empathy that will transfer to their daily attitudes towards coal and energy consumption. One lingering question is whether or not the proceeds from the game have gone to benefit the people who were interviewed, seeing as their testimony and experiences were made an integral part of the game. One possible missing component is that there doesn’t seem to be a function for a user to be connected with a group or outlet that is pushing for meaningful change in the industry and for a shift away from coal as a global energy resource.

“Journey to the End of Coal.” MIT Open Documentary Lab. Accessed July 21, 2020. https://docubase.mit.edu/project/journey-to-the-end-of-coal/

More Ideas

Air Pollution Robot

The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]

Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring

Telematic Rivers

Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]

Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies

Co-occupied Boundaries

Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]

Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies