Channeling Death Valley into downtown LA, William Lamson has transformed Make Room into “Badwater,” an ecologically themed installation as poetically evocative as it is scientifically ingenious. Via an elaborate system of pumps, fans, hoses, timers and other contraptions, Lamson has converted the gallery into a microclimate mimicking evaporation cycles of Badwater Basin salt flats. Upon entering, you become cognizant of changed air tasting of humid salinity. Toward a far wall is a tiered structure, the exhibition’s centerpiece. Radiating irregularly from this structure, a brittle blanket of salt crystals encrusts the floor in oozy coruscant waves, crunching like a dry lakebed underfoot as you approach. Appearing as a comely but mad science experiment, the curiously arrayed shelf contains various combinations of metal pans, saline solutions, dried lemons, earth, resin and glass sculptures shaped as geological forms. Reactive processes involving sodium chloride and magnesium sulfate create an alluringly sparkly whitish crust growing all over, forming wiry mineral stalactites dangling precariously from shiny amorphous glass bubbles. Like organic matter, the salty crust constantly evolves throughout the show’s duration. Even visitors’ breath affects its growth. Are abiotic ecosystems really non-biological? Several foam sculptures mimic crystalline forms; it’s difficult to tell where minerals end and manmade begins. Adorning gallery walls are silver gelatin photograms (example above) created from the peculiar sculptures. Aligning with the weather theme, these painterly photograms evoke astrophysical events such as rain and movement of sun, moon and planets. Not so different from visiting the actual Death Valley site, Lamson’s “Badwater” is a mysterious experience liable to provoke rumination long after you’ve left.

Make Room
1035 N. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Show runs through Oct. 29