Installation, soundscape stereo, 15:01 min, two video loops, no sound, color, HD, 3:18 min and 2:22 min, two prints in Hahnemühle Paper, 31x55 cm 2024
The installation is part of my research on the ecological and social context of the Salton Sea, bringing my impressions from the site into sound and image. Two video loops show digital simulations as a meditative reflection on nature. One shows a close up of a breathing ibis’ feathers, the other a crashing wave.
The digital simulation is not a contradiction to nature, but a way to reveal and process its fragility and decay — the only possible way to approach a landscape that shows its own collapse so beautifully and dangerously.
The sound scape in the installation combines field recordings of bird calls with AI-generated ones. The project questions using technology as way to face decay and to balance the loss of what was once a rich natural place. Even today, the Salton Sea still offers a refuge for many birds before they cross the Pacific, but the place is extremly quiet.
At the same time, this practice opens up questions of authenticity and the possibility of a simulated reality. Considering that the Salton Sea itself is an artificial body of water, the circle closes here once again.