February 15, 2014: 2:40am-2:40pn
36.5 / Akumal Bay was created as a research iteration and Sunde entered the process with the goal to define the constraints of the project and to test out rules of engagement with the public. It was here that she began conducting interviews with locals about their relationship to water. These interviews led to the decision about where the performance should take place, allowing for the story of the project to emerge organically based on local input. The direct impact of humans on the environment can be witnessed every day in Akumal Bay. Along with the rising tide, this anthropogenic impact became the story for this iteration.
The public was invited to participate from the shore, and seven people joined Sunde during the final hour. A local photographer provided photos and time-lapse video, which were presented in a local exhibition two weeks after the performance. Approximately 250 people encountered the work.
While Sunde loved this iteration for many reasons, she realized that moving forward, it would be critical to have at least 4 feet of tidal shift in order to properly create and maintain the image of the water rising on her body. She learned a lot about engaging with the public during the process of building the work and performance in Akumal and wanted to test out the ideas generated from this research and development iteration on a larger scale. This led her to decide that San Francisco Bay, the body of water closest to where she grew up, was the most logical place to do so. She went on to create the third iteration of the work there.
photos by Scott Brown.
photos by Scott Brown, Christie Sandvik, Kim Schultz and Sev Regehr.
36.5 / Akumal Bay
Akumal, Mexico
Second Work in Series
by Sarah Cameron Sunde
with Akumal International Artist Residency
Kim Shultz (curator)
Scott Brown (photographer)
Other key collaborators include: Akumal International Artist Residency, the artists there, and the entire community of Akumal, specifically: Kim Schultz, Scott Brown, Marieke White, Christie Sandvik, Magda Buszek, Karen Cantrell, Cesan d’Ornellas Levine, Julie Bray, Marti Johnston, Jacob van Oeveren, Paul Sanchez Navarro, Michael Stewart, Gimena Pantoja, Israel Gonzalez, Magdalena Gulda, Jonathan Ellerby, Natalie and Ivan Perez, Rosette Sullivan, Laura Wolfe, Desiree Asbury and everyone else in Akumal.
Each person Sunde met in Akumal opened up a new part of the story; she tracked these discoveries on 365durational.blogspot.com.