Canoe
Anne-Katrin Spiess

“For over a decade, my continued concerns about water issues and desertification have led to a series of projects and performances in various arid locations across the Western United States. When the water level of Great Salt Lake was at a historic low in the fall of 2022, I performed Canoe, which documents my search for water in a quixotic attempt to paddle across the lake but instead having to wade through layers of toxic mud.

This project is part of the larger Great Salt Lake Projects series, which addresses our illusion of having endless resources, of being above the rules of nature, and that, as humans, we are entitled to living a life of excess. In this group of videos, my Sisyphean attempt to water and mow a patch of sod, ride a bike on the parched earth, and pull a canoe through the toxic and nearly dry lakebed are subtle commentaries on the unquenchable thirst for human expansion into the desert.”