Chronicles from the edge of the world

These photographs give a glimpse into the oneiric world between nature, art and abandonment that is the Bombay Beach Biennale, which took place last week on the Salton Sea in California.

Only artists and volunteers can participate, and exact running dates are never revealed until the very last moment. For the second year, Domus went to visit this tiny place in the Imperial Valley that sits on the shores of a stunningly-wide toxic lake in front of the Joshua Tree National Park. With its visionary artists and vibrant local community, what the founders refer to as a “renegade celebration of art, music and philosophy” took place secretly over two days, in the festival’s fourth edition. The biennale was founded by Tao Ruspoli, Stefan Ashkenazy and Lily Johnson White in 2015 and it relates intimately with the inhabitants and its spaces, mostly abandoned housing, vacant lots and decaying shoreline.

As usual, installations came in a wide variety of forms, from the striking revamp of real airplanes to beach levitation performances, including kinetic art, architectural installations, photographs, videos, sculptures and immersive environments. Opposing happens at venues such as the Burning Man, here pieces are meant to stay put and sow a creative seed in the hypnotising town of Bombay Beach.

Find more about the Bombay Beach Biennale
  • Bombay Beach Biennale
  • some time in March
  • 2019
Olivia Steele, Public Displays of Awareness Photo Barry Mulling

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

The Cow Photo Barry Mulling

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Randy Polumbo, Lodestar Photo Barry Mulling

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Randy Polumbo, Lodestar Photo Barry Mulling

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Sean Guerrero, Royce and Nita Carlson, John Murphy, Da Vinci Fish Photo Barry Mulling

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Sean Guerrero, Royce and Nita Carlson, John Murphy, Da Vinci Fish Photo Barry Mulling

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

The Open House Photo Courtney Swift

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Kirk Kunihiro, Huy Tran, Discard Photo Kirk Kunihiro

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Midabi, The Only Other Photo Michael Birnberg

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Olivia Steele, Public Displays of Awareness Photo Courtney Swift

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Marco Walker & Tomek Sadurski, Atlantis Inn Photo Marco Walker

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Marco Walker & Tomek Sadurski, Atlantis Inn Photo Marco Walker

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Stefan Ashkenazy, Showtown Photo Chad Sain

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Moral Turgeman, Museum Number Two Photo Moral Turgeman

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Moral Turgeman, Museum Number Two Photo Moral Turgeman

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Moral Turgeman, Museum Number Two Photo Moral Turgeman

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Moral Turgeman, Museum Number Two Photo Moral Turgeman

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Moral Turgeman, Museum Number Two Photo Moral Turgeman

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Marco Walker & Tomek Sadurski, Atlantis Inn Photo Nicolas De Panam

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Sarah K Larsen, Pastmodern Portal Photo Nicolas De Panam

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Boris Chouvellon, Ma ruine avant la votre Photo Robert Di Ieso

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Gregg Pichler and Jonathan Strike, Bonus Round Photo Robert Di Ieso

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Scott Fitzel, Icelandic Pavilion sopra la Zig Zag House di David Corcoran & Tao Ruspoli Photo Robert Di Ieso

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Olivia Steele, I Still Love You Photo Scott Pasfield

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Kathy Sherman Suder, Everybody Is Somebody: Ghost Camp Photo Tim Potts

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Joséphine Wister Faure, Levitation Photo Kathy Suder

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Wish you were here Photo Chad Sain

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Olivia Steele, Paradise Abandoned Photo Nicolas De Panam

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Domenico Laterza, Marianna Guernieri, Solange Rodriguez, Rinascimento Foto Sol Rodriguez

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Rinascimento by Domenico Laterza, Marianna Guernieri, Solange Rodriguez, Foto M.G.

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Carrie Schmidt, DeXtinction Photo Justin Burquist

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Kathy Sherman Suder, Ghost Camp Photo Adam Anderson

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Sean Guerrero, Shipwreck Photo Barry Mulling

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Chris "Ssippi" Wessman & Damon James Duke, Swing Photo Barry Mulling

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Damon James Duke, A Dream in Death Photo Damon J. Duke

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019 Photo Kathy Suder

Salton Sea, California

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019 Photo Scott London

Salton Sea, California

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019

Salton Sea, California

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019 Photo Oscar Contreras

Salton Sea, California

Wyatt Mills, Untitled Photo Chad Sain

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Steve Hash, Clothesline Photo Scotto London

Bombay Beach Biennale, Salton Sea, California

Sean Guerrero, Royce and Nita Carlson and John Murphy, Da Vinci Fish Photo Scott London

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Randy Polumbo, Lodestar Photo Scott London

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, Salton Sea, California

Susanna Della Sala, A Fish Grows Legs In Its Dreams and Sleepwalks

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, California

Alex Thev, Unity in Motion Photo Robert Di Ieso

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019 Salton Sea, California

The Bombay Beach Institute of Particle Physics, Metaphysics and International Relations Photo Tao Ruspoli

Conference by English writer Geoff Dyer Photo Tao Ruspoli

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, California

Philosophy conference Photo Tao Ruspoli

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, California

Confrence by Oxford Professor of Philosophy Mark Wrathall Photo Tao Ruspoli

Bombay Beach Biennale 2019, California

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