Initiated September 4, 2018, TOTAL LOSS : O LOST SALT is composed of the letters T, O, S, A, and L cast in canning salt and arranged parenthetically around an oval copper basin containing a few inches of water. Invited to place letters into the basin, passerby began to spell out variants of the original text, creating an overlapping slow dissolve of anagrams. At first, these variants disappeared into the water, the solution approaching full saturation day after day; midway through the reconstitution, the salt overpowered the water and the letters began to half-dissolve and recombine, tinge green, etch the copper, form new crystalline structures. The copper basin sprung a leak and the brine began to lace the floor, eating the wax coating. The remaining document, half undone, continues to write itself as temperatures and humidity shift.
