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(1) Interstate 15 functions as our conduit, leading away from recognizable civilization to a labyrinth of dirt feeder roads. Time is condensed as easily as it is extended. The two and a half hours it takes to get to the MOISTURE site is time to prepare, time to consider what has to be done and how quickly. It's halfway between Vegas and L.A. we are told, but this estimation means little to us. We listen to 'The Drive,' the only station we know of that's connected not to city or town, but to a stretch of a Highway, more specifically, Interstate 15...the road to the City of Sin. 'The Drive' keeps us contextually aware with current traffic updates and a steady stream of classic rock suitable for high speed traveling. From Victorville to Vegas, the signal is loud and clear. As we get closer to our site, time slows down. Evidence of water's desert-shaping abilities is apparent, but its physical presence is seemingly insignificant. We've missed the last infrequent flow. The limited rainfall has avoided our eyes, but it hasn’t avoided our electronic sensors. We know its been here. The hard-packed ground is one sign, and the complex palate of greens is another. |
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(3) --C.W |
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[ Printable text ] (2) Many feel we have crossed one void to spend time in another, and that we've traveled to this overlooked location to bask in its exotic qualities. Perhaps it is the interactivity between the urban and rural (desert) regions that few consider. The urban/desert locations are reciprocal and consequential rather than discrete. The desert is a place to temporarily escape for some, and a homestead for others. It is a slower place, inhabited, lived-in, and not always moved through. But it is a place understood by the time it takes to get there and by the time it takes to leave. Deserts are not empty. Almost always they are occupied by plants, though distributed sparsely, and are prowled by animals and insects of many kinds, which tend to come out after the sun goes down. Deserts often exist between more moderate environments and thus become places constantly crossed by people going from one place to another, which is most definitely the case for the American deserts next to the Mediterranean environs of California. ---William Fox, Playa Works: |
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