#salvation that

[beansidhebumbling]

Sometimes I think the Irish Catholicism I've been entrenched in since birth didn't really impact me and then I read my writing and it's like girl.

[chillyfeetsteak]

I first became fascinated with it a few years ago when I noticed it out an airplane window on a flight from Texas to Southern California. In an expanse of endless desert, suddenly, a vast body of water. When I got home, I immediately looked it up on a map. The Salton Sea.

It’s the largest landlocked body of water in California. It sits right on top of the San Andreas Fault at over 200 feet below sea level. It is more than twice as salty as the Pacific Ocean. It is completely toxic. And I had never heard of it before then.

(photo essay under the cut)

In the early 1900s the Colorado River was diverted through a series of irrigation canals in order to provide water for the farmlands of Imperial Valley. One of the head-gates broke during a flood, and the desert basin filled with water for 2 years before it was fixed. The unexpected lake soon became a popular vacation destination; it was stocked with fish, and resorts and hotels popped up along its shores. It became known as a great place for sport fishing, waterskiing, and yacht parties. Big name celebrities visited. At one point, it had more annual visitors than Yosemite.

Salton Sea has no outlet, and is only filled via agricultural runoff. As the water evaporated in the hot desert sun, the lake became more and more saline. Chemicals began to build up from the run off causing toxic algae blooms, and mass die-offs of fish and birds started in the 80s. By the 90s, the beaches were littered with fish gills and bird bones and the resorts were abandoned. The lake began to dry up as irrigation run-off was diverted away. The exposed lake bed is also toxic, and the high desert winds kick up the dust, making the air poisonous. 

Despite the unpleasant odor, the noxious air and the summer temperatures regularly reaching 120°, a renaissance of sorts began in the early 2010s. Artist and nomad colonies began to spring up around Salton Sea. Bombay Beach, once a popular resort destination, is now mostly a ghost town, but the folks who remain have turned the ruins on the shores into an outdoor art installation gallery where the found-art sculptures are cyclically destroyed by the elements and then replaced with new ones. Many of the houses and RVs in town are themselves art pieces.

In nearby Slab City, a settlement of off-the-grid lifestylers, you can find even more folk art. Salvation Mountain is a manmade hill painted with bright colors and bible verses and maintained by a community of volunteers. East Jesus is a sculpture garden and art installation. 

This past weekend my partner and I finally made the pilgrimage to the Sea. California has the benefit of being home to a huge array of biomes. In just a couple of hours you can travel from snowy mountain peaks to lush oases to endless sand dunes. Driving the hour or so south from Palm Springs towards Salton Sea is like driving towards the end of the world.

Bombay Beach especially enamored me. The beach is crusted with salt and millions of tiny shells and bones. It smells awful, like sewage and chemicals and low-tide and rotting fish. You drive out onto the beach and park anywhere amongst the sculptures and deteriorating resort ruins. The art feels raw in a way I haven’t experienced before. It reminds me of seeing paleolithic cave art. Humans made this, with no motivation other than to create something intriguing or beautiful or sad. Not much can live out here, but what you find fills me with a great adoration for humanity. Despite the asphyxiation of the natural world, the human spirit persists.

[bleuu-moon]

It’s giving simon riley

[cloudmancy]

burn the incense of our innocence and in a sense we thrive

[kath-trashh]

thought too hard and cried a little bit

[harvocel]

trigun stampede is a good show

[macaronijail06]

The March

[khachalala]

How could one end this perpetual cycle.

[yuudamari]

Thoughts on DKOS's wings

[ventique18]

Diasomnia waiting for their youngest to get his driver's license because Lilia shouldn't, Malleus couldn't, and Silver wouldn't.

[yunnuna]

[Escape to the Stars]

[dokjasimp51]

we're getting closer and closer (an artwork from 2022 by me ) follow for more 🥹🫶

https://x.com/Dokjasimp4951?t=mE6oGNmnd-NaKBSGsUAz_g&s=09

[genesisguidline]

like father like daughter

[setewbro]

Kim Dokja Hiii

[saintedseb]

Saint Sebastian (1650) - Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1615-1673)

[buqbite]

Mockery of the audience

[ID: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint fanart of Kim Dokja standing in a mocking pose with his back to the viewer, speaking to a huge gallery of silhouettes. He's in his Demon King form, and one of his legs is kicked back as he raises his hands dramatically. Most of the scene is shaded in dark purple, but Dokja is cast in bright red. A huge purple eye with a star-shaped pupil stares down from above, casting a spotlight over Dokja. End ID]

(ID by princess-of-purple-prose)