These are photos of my installation at the 2019 Bombay Beach Biennale. The installation was called “A dream in death.”

Outside a trailer was a pink coffin filled with ball pit balls for people to relax in and take photos. The inside of the trailer house the original instant prints documenting Bombay Beach repeated stays over a few months. Some were blown up as well. All of these photos were shot on expired Fuji fp3000b instant film with a Mamiya RZ67 medium format camera. The backboards were made up of a collage of all of the film boxes used on this project. They were then epoxied and adorned with dead fish from The Salton Sea.

Outside the trailer was a projection screen that had visuals from trips to Bombay Beach. A mix of drone clips and shots from my collaboration with musician Vera Sola on her video for her song “The Colony” are displayed with samples of droning sounds and train hisses taken from Godspeed You! Black Emperor songs. The show’s title “A dream in death” is a reference to a sample from their song “Static.” I listened to their music predominately while shooting this series of photos.

In addition to my photo/video installation I installed a swing in The Salton Sea with Chris “Ssippi” Wessman. We intentionally faced it west so people could capture photos during the sunsets. We hope it brings awareness in regards to restoration efforts to The Salton Sea. It is possible and necessary to the people and animals that live in the region. We hope this smashes the misconception that the water is toxic. The water isn’t bad, It’s just a little salty.

Bombay Beach is filled with a remarkable community of artists breathing life into a tiny desert town set against the dying Salton Sea.

This place IS my dream in death.