WATER AS LIFE:
text by Athena Tacha, for the Friendship Heights plaza LED Obelisk (2009)

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS WATER, A GIFT TO EARTH FROM COMETS HURTLING THROUGH SPACE.

WATER COVERS TWO THIRDS OF EARTH'S SURFACE. OCEAN TIDES ARE EARTH'S BREATH. AQUIFERS ARE EARTH'S ARTERIES. SPRINGS AND RIVERS ARE EARTH'S VEINS. WATER EVAPORATES INTO CLOUDS AND RETURNS TO EARTH AS RAIN OR SNOW. EVERY 3100 YEARS ALL OCEAN WATER IS RECIRCULATED THROUGH THIS HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE.

WATER IS UNIQUE BECAUSE ITS MOLECULES CAN BOND LOOSELY, YET BE ORDERLY LIKE A CRYSTAL. WITHIN EARTH'S TEMPERATURES WATER CAN EXIST IN 3 STATES, AS LIQUID, SOLID AND GAS. SURPRISINGLY, WHEN WATER FREEZES IT EXPANDS AND IS LIGHTER THAN ITS LIQUID FORM. THE FLOATING OF ICE PREVENTS THE OCEANS FROM FREEZING SOLID. CURRENTS OF COLD OR WARM WATER MOVE YEARLY THROUGHOUT THE OCEANS LIKE A CONVEYOR BELT, AFFECTING EARTH'S WEATHER AND CLIMATE.

THE UNIQUE NATURE OF WATER MADE THE MIRACLE OF LIFE ON EARTH POSSIBLE. LIFE WAS BORN IN THE OCEANS AND CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT WATER. OCEANIC MICROBES AND ALGAE PRODUCE MOST OF THE OXYGEN WE BREATHE. IN ALL LIVING THINGS, WATER LUBRICATES, CARRIES FOOD AND MEDIATES CHEMICAL REACTIONS. BABIES FLOAT IN THEIR MOTHER'S WOMB. OUR BODIES ARE MOSTLY MADE OF WATERY FLUIDS: BLOOD, SALIVA, SWEAT, URINE, SPERM, MILK, LYMPH AND DIGESTIVES FLUIDS. DAILY WE EACH NEED 2 PINTS OF WATER TO FUNCTION.

YET DRINKING WATER IS SCARCE FOR MANY ON EARTH. HALF OF ALL PEOPLE RELY ON WATER COMING FROM OUTSIDE THEIR OWN COUNTRY. MOST FRESH WATER IS USED TO IRRIGATE CROPS, BUT INDUSTRY ALSO CONSUMES IT ABUNDANTLY. AN ENTIRE TRUCKFUL OF WATER IS NEEDED TO PRODUCE ONE PAIR OF DENIM JEANS.

GROUND WATER, RIVERS AND OCEANS ARE CONTAMINATED BY PESTICIDES, FERTILIZERS, THE MEAT INDUSTRY, HUMAN SEWAGE, TRASH DUMPS, OIL SPILLS, INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS AND HAZARDOUS WASTE. INDUSTRIAL AND VEHICLE EMISSIONS POLLUTE THE AIR AND RETURN TO EARTH AS ACID RAIN. OCEANS AND WETLANDS CAN ABSORB POLLUTANTS BUT HAVE LIMITED CAPACITY FOR ABSORBTION. WETLANDS ARE DISAPPEARING AND IRRIGATION DAMS ARE REDUCING THE FLOW OF RIVERS TO THE OCEANS. NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS ARE BEING DESTROYED.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF WATER AND LIFE ON EARTH?

(The last couple of paragraphs of the above text were abbreviated drastically by the Development's Owners, with the artist's consent, November 2009.)