In 2022 our journey took us to South Australia, a land that held a silent terror for me. It is the site of the Maralinga nuclear tests, conducted between 1956 and 1963 on the traditional lands of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples, without their consent.
At Second Valley, I installed the Yarn on the jagged rocks of the coast at the lowest tide, to watch how the line resonated with the incoming water. As the Southern Ocean waves began to crash and a cold rain fell, I remained alone, watching the Yarn sink until it became indistinguishable from the rocks, the water and the kelp. I realised that while my Yarn could rot and heal, the water surrounding it held isotopes that would never fade. The ocean was no longer just a threat to avoid; it was a fellow sufferer, silently enduring an undecomposable wound.
