Have you heard of Bombay Beach? During the 1950s, it was a popular resort town. Now it’s almost completely empty. Why?
It all began around the 1970s, when the runoff full of chemicals led to a warning that the salinity of the Salton Sea would no longer sustain wildlife. Many residents around the Salton Sea were driven to move out by the stink of the dying fish, the fear of health problems, and both the flooding and the draining of the Salton Sea. So yes, humans did it again.
When I visited Bombay Beach back in April for the second time, I got a nice surprise. Many art installations left from the last Bombay Beach Biennale in 2019 were still there, waiting for their visitors on the literal edge of western civilization, at the shores of the Salton Sea.
Here you can see some of them. Worth a visit? I would say yes. :)
It all began around the 1970s, when the runoff full of chemicals led to a warning that the salinity of the Salton Sea would no longer sustain wildlife. Many residents around the Salton Sea were driven to move out by the stink of the dying fish, the fear of health problems, and both the flooding and the draining of the Salton Sea. So yes, humans did it again.
When I visited Bombay Beach back in April for the second time, I got a nice surprise. Many art installations left from the last Bombay Beach Biennale in 2019 were still there, waiting for their visitors on the literal edge of western civilization, at the shores of the Salton Sea.
Here you can see some of them. Worth a visit? I would say yes. :)
