The freshwater mussel exhibit within Fairmont Waterworks is my digital object. While I had intended to highlight the mussels themselves, the exhibits had been drained for the year. This feels ironically representative of the mussel itself in how that even when it is acknowledged it is difficult to do so directly, due to the murky elusiveness of the creatures.
The mussels choose to remain safe and hidden beneath the currents of the Tidal Schuylkill and Delaware, but they are far from the only hidden aspects of the Tidal Schuylkill. Throughout the course, we have focused on both the very tangible in the form of the Tidal Schuylkill and very abstract in our various discussions of the Anthropocene and the relationships between our environment and humanity.
The mussels and by extension creatures such as worms, bacteria, and moss are the types of creatures who sit at the back of the mind never the spotlight. I wanted to our achieve to include the middle ground of concepts that are visible but hidden. The “unsung heroes” of the Tidal Schuylkill who toil away like janitors for the benefit of the rest of the river. These silent creatures serve others while being purposefully aloof.
