If This Rain Can Fall

If This Rain Can Fall, a multi-sensory installation featuring split-screen sound film and other materials collected in the field, is an investigation into depletion of the vast Ogallala Aquifer and the disappearing rivers and creeks of northwestern Kansas. Central to the American imagination, this land of promise has metamorphosed into the scarred and thirsty place we find today. This work explores how multi-generational farming families practice farming past the 98^th meridian, where it rarely rains enough to support the kind of water-intensive crop growing that many do. By focusing on conservation-minded High Plains farmers, their adaptive practices, and the deep traces in the landscape, Gill attempts to understand if soil and water are understood as more than just resources to be exploited.