I am ready for a long road flight for work with a week- or months-long projects.
HER NAME IS GOBI, AND SOMETIMES SHE IS CALLED A DESERT…
Christian
Gottet
Gottet
Unique, multifaceted, ever-changing, singing, transforming herself. Unlike us. We drive, tirelessly. We drive hard. From nowhere, we appear to see the first tree for two weeks. Like a vision, and for my sake alone, it soars above me in spite of its context.
But be careful...
You should never camp near a tree, lest you risk losing your eyesight, hands and life, at best, or so the Mongolian legend goes.
But be careful...
You should never camp near a tree, lest you risk losing your eyesight, hands and life, at best, or so the Mongolian legend goes.
The tree is so rare here that it could be mistaken for a god sent to instill fear. I imagine this tree as the reincarnation of an old ascetic who lived in biblical times, overthrowing all the demons of hell, as if after the apocalypse, towering in the middle of the desert.
Unique, multifaceted, ever-changing, singing, transforming herself. Unlike us. We drive, tirelessly. We drive hard. From nowhere, we appear to see the first tree for two weeks. Like a vision, and for my sake alone, it soars above me in spite of its context.
But be careful...
You should never camp near a tree, lest you risk losing your eyesight, hands and life, at best, or so the Mongolian legend goes. The tree is so rare here that it could be mistaken for a god sent to instill fear. I imagine this tree as the reincarnation of an old ascetic who lived in biblical times, overthrowing all the demons of hell, as if after the apocalypse, towering in the middle of the desert.
You should never camp near a tree, lest you risk losing your eyesight, hands and life, at best, or so the Mongolian legend goes. The tree is so rare here that it could be mistaken for a god sent to instill fear. I imagine this tree as the reincarnation of an old ascetic who lived in biblical times, overthrowing all the demons of hell, as if after the apocalypse, towering in the middle of the desert.
1 295 000 square kilometers is the area of the Gobi Desert. It’s 1600 kilometers long, and between 500 and 1000 kilometers wide.
The word ‘gobi’ translates from Mongolian as ‘waterless place’.
The Mongolian Gobi is the largest of the Gobi desert areas.
1 295 000 square kilometers is the area of the Gobi Desert. It’s 1600 kilometers long, and between 500 and 1000 kilometers wide.
The word ‘gobi’ translates from Mongolian as ‘waterless place’.
The Mongolian Gobi is the largest of the Gobi desert areas.
THE DESERT IS A MOVING FEAST WHICH DEFIES DESCRIPTION. IT’S A ‘LAND OF DIVERSITY’, ONE OF REDS, BLACKS, GREENS, YELLOWS, GRAYS, AND BROWNS. IT’S SANDY, ROCKY, AND SWAMPY... AND, FOR ME, THE GOBI IS A PLACE OF UNEARTHLY BEAUTY, WHERE ORDINARY AESTHETIC CATEGORISATION IS USELESS.
Dmitry
Baranov
Baranov
Martian and lunar landscapes awaken the imagination, either completely immersing you into your self, or dissolving into a space filled with mirages, side-stepping the earthly and vital.
Martian and lunar landscapes awaken the imagination, either completely immersing you into your self, or dissolving into a space filled with mirages, side-stepping the earthly and vital.
But this is fraught with issues. The beauty here is unearthly, alien and even hostile to man. For ten minutes, you drive through red rocks, and then suddenly you find yourself on a black plain, as smooth and hot as a frying pan, resting against a salt marsh.
But this is fraught with issues. The beauty here is unearthly, alien and even hostile to man. For ten minutes, you drive through red rocks, and then suddenly you find yourself on a black plain, as smooth and hot as a frying pan, resting against a salt marsh.
You have to fight for survival here. And you do that not by bending the landscape to your will, but by adapting to it. The Gobi is aggressive and unforgiving—masculine in principle. And it is here that the adaptability of human culture is most evident.
You have to fight for survival here. And you do that not by bending the landscape to your will, but by adapting to it. The Gobi is aggressive and unforgiving—masculine in principle. And it is here that the adaptability of human culture is most evident.
IN THE DESERT, YOU WILL NOT SEE A PERSON TRAVELLING ON FOOT, SINCE THE VERY POSSIBILITY OF EXISTENCE IN THE GOBI IS PREDICATED ON PERPETUAL MOTION—THAT IS, MOVING THROUGH A SPACE OVER LONG DISTANCES.
IN THE DESERT, YOU WILL NOT SEE A PERSON TRAVELLING ON FOOT, SINCE THE VERY POSSIBILITY OF EXISTENCE IN THE GOBI IS PREDICATED ON PERPETUAL MOTION—THAT IS, MOVING THROUGH A SPACE OVER LONG DISTANCES.
Horseback riding changes one’s perception of space radically. Horizons drift apart, one’s gaze changes direction. Essentially, the rider becomes the master of their context, looking at everything literally and metaphorically from top to bottom.
Horseback riding changes one’s perception of space radically. Horizons drift apart, one’s gaze changes direction. Essentially, the rider becomes the master of their context, looking at everything literally and metaphorically from top to bottom.
IN ANCIENT TIMES, THE IMAGE OF THE HORSEMAN WAS DESCRIBED IN RIDDLES AS ‘A SIX-LEGGED MONSTER’. IN CHINESE CHRONICLES, THE LAND OF THE HUNS WAS KNOWN AS ‘THE KINGDOM OF WAR HORSES’, AND NOMADS WERE COMPARED TO WHIRLWINDS AND LIGHTNING.
IN ANCIENT TIMES, THE IMAGE OF THE HORSEMAN WAS DESCRIBED IN RIDDLES AS ‘A SIX-LEGGED MONSTER’. IN CHINESE CHRONICLES, THE LAND OF THE HUNS WAS KNOWN AS ‘THE KINGDOM OF WAR HORSES’, AND NOMADS WERE COMPARED TO WHIRLWINDS AND LIGHTNING.
The landscapes of the Gobi constantly evoke associations with animals. The mountains resemble the profile of some immense creature, the leathery skin of an elderly elephant, or a huge brain.
The landscapes of the Gobi constantly evoke associations with animals. The mountains resemble the profile of some immense creature, the leathery skin of an elderly elephant, or a huge brain.
©
Anthropogeos. 2021
Contacts
Our social channels
