All photos by INDECLINE

The artist collective that brought us the naked Trump statues across America, and dozens of other viral, guerilla art projects have now transformed an entire toxic gold-processing mill into a massive art project.

The non-profit, art collective called INDICLINE used plasma cutters, angle grinders and various other power tools to transform an abandon gold mill into an incredible piece of artwork with a message of protest against “man’s constant quest for wealth at the expense of everything else.”

The collective is based in San Diego but their subversive art and artistic network reaches far and wide.  During Trump’s presidential campaign in August 2016 they managed to place naked statues of Trump in cities across america.  The project dubbed ‘the emporer has no balls‘ went viral.  Bellow is Trump statue that appeared in the San Francisco Castro District.
Indecline’s latest project called “Death Metals” is located 20 miles from Nipton, California on the eastern edge of the Ivanpah Valley on an abandoned, 40-acre, gold-processing mill.

According to INDICLINE the mill was owned and operated by the Vanderbilt Corporation and active until 1994, when the implementation of the California Desert Protection Act suspended mining activity and transformed the East Mojave Scenic Area to into the newly protected Mojave National Preserve. In 2002, the EPA listed the mill as a “Superfund Site”.

Her Here are a number of the violations discovered at the site:
~Mineral oil potentially containing PCB’s
~Numerous 55 gallon drums of waste oily-liquids

~Various drum storage areas with unlabeled drums containing unknown contents
~Leaking drums with soil contaminated by oily liquid beneath

~ (2) open drums containing sodium cyanide
~Several settling pond/leach field areas with soil discoloration indicating possible heavy metal contamination

~Numerous lab-size amber bottles containing cyanide
~An open burn-area with unknown contaminants

~Drums of sodium-cyanide, sodium-hydroxide, “hydrochlorite” and other unknown contents in drums stored onsite in a manner not conducive to preventing the unknowing or unauthorized entry of persons, livestock, or
wildlife.

A $264,000 “short-term” clean up was executed to eliminate the “serious threats”, but, to this day, uncontrolled and hazardous substances still continue to pollute the area. It is unlikely they will ever be properly eliminated.

INDECLINE’s new installation, “Death Metals”, is an environmental art-project in protest of man’s constant quest for wealth at the expense of everything else.

Project Video

The project was carried out covertly over the course of 6 days by 8 members of the collective. The artwork left behind was created using cranes, smoke machines, extensive lighting, plasma cutters, angle grinders and various other power tools.  Checkout more about this project and others at thisisindecline.com

 All Photography of Death Metals project provided by INDICLINE