Following traditions of myths and storytelling, passed down
through generations, THIRST | A Thousand Pockets Tongue is a fictional story left behind for the future. The story of THIRST is set in Glen Canyon on the border of Utah and Arizona (US) where in real life, demands for water rights have created an entangled and conflicted landscape as a mega drought worsens along
the Colorado River. The story unfolds in 5 non-linear
chapters: TRANSLATION OF ABSENCE – CHOKING OF PORES – CONFLUENCE – PRIME LAND – and DESERT BLOSSOM. Presented as a moving image collage on 3 vertical LCD screens. Each screen is accompanied by an original score.

Thirst Sample

THIRST | a thousand pockets tongue, 2020   

chapter 1: Translation of Absence – 11m24s  
sculpted and sampled field recordings  © sara simon

in the translation of absence monochromatic rock formations of deep ochres and paynes gray erode. blue and black shadows expand outward and over. the air tastes like minerals and salt. erratics imbed in fossilized sand. where there is gray sand there are ochre brush, where gray brush are, there is ochre sand. plants reach their roots far down into the surface and drink their nutrients from fossil carbon. a sea, a jungle, a lushness… absent. wind shaped hills and the repetition of utility vehicle tracks shift the surface and interrupt the vast quiet. footsteps and traces never erase, an encrusted invisible presence. wild horses at the brink of dehydration are driven to troths of water, a woman whispers their language, soothing and stroking. above, helicopters haul excavated bones across empty skies. arguments over resources, a forever burning fire pit, a river lapped dry. a river, a reservoir, a relief… all absent. perched in the shadows, it watches. no footstep, no fallen stone, no crack or alkali spring is unknown, it preserves. mating rituals are at its commencement, spring flash floods break at its cry, what passes at its permission, what is communicated by its translation.

Sara Simon

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