This work’s namesake is a coal mining pit in Bohemia turned into a museum. The ghosts of Mayrau still hang in the changing room, where the workers’ street clothes were hung high above the floor to serve as a visible sign that their uniformed selves were still down in the pit. The chain and pulley system has grown hoarse with rust, and its squeaks have become one of the voices in this piece.

Thanks to Dagmar Šubrtová for arranging the Mayrau museum visit for Peter Cusack, Miloš Vojtěchovský and me.