Showed up to Daley Plaza to snap a shot of Picasso. Just so happened to get there at the exact same time as a Critical Mass meet up. Lots of bikes, lots of crazy outfits, lots of dogs in baskets. The best part was after I left here I hopped on a train half way across town and when I came out of the station all the same people were riding by. I recognized lots of them.
The infamous “bean” also called “Cloud Gate”. It took me a while to notice the city skyline reflected in the mirror. It was a popular spot for tourists, luckily I wasn’t one of them. I was just passing by.
Visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Not much good art there. Just a lot of weird stuff. Memorable exhibits: video of people submerged in mud blowing air through long plastic garden hose-like tubes that were attached to flutes, videos of a husband and wife performance art duo that pretty much just rolled around like they were dying or in extreme pain on strange stages, lots of “dirty” art. I liked the fish at the bottom of the stairs best, but wished there was a 25 cent food dispenser so we could feed the fish.
Took a walk up to the Santa Monica Pier for the annual paddleboard races. Not really that exciting but it is kinda funny to see a bunch of people standing up in the middle of the ocean. At certain points you don’t see the boards and it just looks like people are out there walking around. Of all the wave related sports out there this is probably the first one I would ever try.
You don’t see a lot of mustachioed busts throughout the art world, at least I haven’t encountered many, so this one caught my eye and reminded me that I don’t like mustaches or fedora hats on about 95% of the people that wear them.
After falling asleep on the beach in the morning I decided to do something productive and took a drive up to the Getty. The sun was out and the temperature was about 75-80. The Getty complex is a really nice architectural exhibit in and of itself. It sort of has the feel of Bill and Ted’s University of the Future.
The weather in San Francisco has been rainy and cold. On my walk to work one day I got pelted by dime sized hail. The next day a downpour soaked me so bad I had to change my socks and walk around the office shoeless for the better part of the day. All this is reminding me a bit of back east but as bad as the weather can seem at the time there is something familiar and comforting about the days where you just want soup for lunch. Really haven’t felt that in the 5 previous years I’ve spent in California.
Retro boutique hotel in Union Square. Very interesting decor and the room was much taller than it was wide, sort of like being dropped in a well. Decent night sleep though and very close to Pearl’s.
My timing was sort of perfect as i got to Bombay Beach right at the end of the day. I got a good 45 minutes to play with changing light and a setting sun and it was fun to experiment with some shots.
The Bombay Beach beach area is extremely popular with photographers due to the “sunken trailer park” on the banks of the sea. I visited this site a year prior to this trip and was disappointed to see how much the area had changed. Some structures had been completely destroyed. A bit ironic to be upset about decomposing trailers decomposing between visits, but it is straight up disappointing to think that the trailers will be completely gone soon and the Salton Sea will be reduced to an even more depressing place.
The last leg of this trip to the Salton Sea ended at the Bombay Beach pier. The eastern coast beach community is just as scary and weird as it’s western counterparts, still there are moments of beauty in the sea, like not watching where you are going and realizing you are stepping on dead fish.
No trip to the Salton Sea is complete without a quick trip to Salvation Mountain at the foot of Slab City. Salvation Mountain is sort of a man made monument to the idea of love. Sort of a welcoming post to the hippy lifestyle of Slab City. The mountain was constructed by a man named Leonard Knight, who at this point in his life probably goes about 80yrs. He is really nice and welcoming. He is a religious man and his mountain is painted in a way that supports that, but deep down he doesn’t care what religion someone is. Doesn’t really preach to his guests. And only asks that people love each other and treat people kindly. The mountain is a popular draw especially considering its remote location.
My Salton Sea trip continued just a few streets away from the abandoned trailers as I went rummaging through someones imploded house. The house was right up on the shore. A potentially beautiful abode in the heydays, the house is now decimated. Walking through the fire, salt and time damaged house is straight up zombie movie. The air is quiet. The place feels like the apocalypse, and with every step you anticipate disturbing some kind of evil. As destroyed as the place was there are still loads of “normal” items that really drive home the fact that this was once a thriving, livable locale. Flyswatters, shoes, plates in cupboards, its all evidence that someone lived there. Somebody slept there and somebody once called it home. And of course later somebody also made a decision to cut their losses and just up and leave and let the sea have it.
Started a day trip to the Salton Sea with a stop on the western sea side. The Salton Sea is an ecological disaster. It is the largest body of water in California, sits well below sea level and is a former recreation destination from the 50s and 60s. It was once a place of promise, fun, and life, but now it is decrepit, dysfunctional, and destroyed. The small town of Salton Sea Beach was at one time a beautiful sea side location and although it seems like there are pockets of civilization still there today the majority of the waterfront is completely abandoned.
The first stop in Salton Sea Beach had me smack in the middle of a bunch of abandoned trailers.
