Can You Read My Lips?

About

A 14-foot-wide LED sign on the deep playa. Five lines of light, each reading "CAN YOU READ MY LIPS?", flicker across its face. First slow and tentative, then chaotic and overwhelming, like the fatigue of trying to keep up with many voices at once. At the peak the whole sign holds bright for one second, then resolves into a sixth line: "CAN YOU READ MY HANDS?" The piece is by a Deaf artist whose first language is American Sign Language. The lipreading the question asks for is the lipreading he does every day; the hands at the end point to a fuller language than mouths alone can carry, and a quieter question about whether better is possible.

Where to find it

12:57 4000', Open Playa — about 4000 ft from the Man