Sand, Salt, Water, Chapter I
Deserted Ocean
Sand, Salt, Water by Ramin Aryaie, Chapter I
The road to Wadi Dana is long and deserted. No signs indicate where to go. We walk to the edge and look out. An endless stony desert, interrupted by dry bushes that somehow survive with the little water they can draw from the ground and the occasional rain that falls. The valley stretches in front of us, turning into an ocean of hills and mountains in the distance.
We stand on the cliff overlooking the gigantic valley. Our feet firmly rooted on the ground, the strong wind blazing around our necks and ears. As if the valley was singing.
Along a steep cliff I suddenly notice tiny moving dots. Distant bells ring. A soft echo vibrates through the valley, carried by the wind from the necks of their bearers into our ears, distant and weak, yet unmistakable. Sheep, dressed in thick wool, with their rough and beautiful faces, their tenderness and infinite wisdom graze the dry bushes.
A few hundred metres away a dinosaur-like creature moves through the bushes across the dust. Its leathery skin bends and stretches as the eyes scan the surrounding environment to the right and left.
A calm floods me. Over the years, the water has designed playful models, sometimes smooth, sometimes harsh; the sun draws the edges.
Wadi Dana is a rocky valley that stretches down into a wide mountainous region. A mosaic of light beige, dark brown and mud red patterns, forms and lines. Water has carved far reaching lines into the hills.
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Traveller/s
Ramin Aryaie
Experimental visual artist, web designer and film maker
Ramin Aryaie is a german-iranian experimental visual artist, web designer and film maker. His works interweave a variety of mediums and artistic approaches including photography, writing, film, sound, and design.
He explores the material world through journalistic web hybrids, images and books and the human soul through abstract films, AV performances and installations.
He is the founder of VOIIAGE and co-founder of the Liva Collective as well as a member of Justin Vernon's PEOPLE collective. He has worked and collaborated with artists such as Damien Rice, Justin Vernon, Vincent Moon and s t a r g a z e.
@raminaryaie
