September 14, 2022: 7:27am – 8:06pm
12 hours, 39 minutes
LIVE PERFORMANCE + TIME-LAPSE + DURATIONAL VIDEO WORK OF THE SAME LENGTH

36.5 / New York Estuary is the 9th and final work in the series, 36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea, 2013 – 2022.

A site-specific, community-engaged process: Sarah and NYC collaborators gathered at the water’s edge every month from September 2020 (when the work was initially scheduled to take place but was postponed due to the pandemic) until September 2022, to build Kin To The Cove, a site-specific community-powered environmental public art process that connects local residents to the Cove and Water that surrounds NYC. This process built a team of 36.5 participants while building relationships with the water, imagining a healthier future, and committing to future stewardship of the site. Engagement events were also held across NYC in the lead up to the live performance, as well as after.

The live performance took place in the Cove on Vernon Blvd at 31st Ave, where Astoria meets Long Island City. Sarah stood in the cove for one full tidal cycle, inviting the public to join her by standing in water and/or marking the passing of hours from shore as “the human clock.” Artist collaborators created interventions and installations to amplify the performance. Over 175 people joined Sarah in the water, over 1000 witnesses from the shore at the Cove. Additional viewing stations were set up on the NYC Ferry, Roosevelt Island and Upper East Side, Manhattan will allow live audiences to gather from various viewpoints.

Simultaneous international performances took place at previous 36.5 locations: the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, Aotearoa-New Zealand, with core collaborators organizing relay performances and events at the sites where the project initially took place.

Livestream of the final performance was broadcast online, outdoors and into venues in and around all five boroughs of New York City, around the country, and the world. Footage from the global performances was be layered-into the live-stream feed.  Thousands of people tuned in.

The New York Estuary durational video artwork was created at the same time. Six cameras captured the entire performance in real-time. Within 10 days, the footage was edited into a durational video work (same length as the performance: 12 hours, 39 minutes). The durational video artwork was premiered first to the collaborating community at the Cove on October 2, 2022. An excerpt of the durational video artwork (rendered as a split screen) can be viewed here.

36.5 / NEW YORK ESTUARY ENGAGEMENT EVENTS:

JULY
ο 36.5 Cove Intensive (studio visits, test stands, research, artist/community engagements, film + international livestream testing)
ο Cumulating Cove Intensive “Kin Dig” and live performance “We Are All Kin to the Cove” (partner: Remote Theater Project)
ο Art and the Environment: Artist Talk with Tatiana Arocha and Sarah Cameron Sunde (presented by: Arts Brookfield)

AUGUST
ο With the Sea: Climate Art, Science, and Human Connections to Sea Level Rise (presented by: The Climate Museum and NYU Gallatin WetLab)
ο Guided Walk and 36.5 / Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh Video Installation (presented by: Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor Cultural Center)
ο Community Day at Brookfield Place: screening of durational video artworks 36.5 / Te Manukanukatanga ō Hoturoa,
Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa-New Zealand + 36.5 / Bay of All Saints, Brazil (presented by: Arts Brookfield)
ο Ma’s House and The Watermill Center collaboration with Jeremy Dennis, Pamella Allen, Tecumseh Ceaser, Danielle Hopson Begun, Shinnecock
ο Community Workshops at Riverside Park (presented by: Riverside Park Conservancy)

SEPTEMBER
ο Final 36.5 Cove Intensive Prep (studio visits, test stands, research, artist/community engagements, film + international livestream testing, project ambassador workshop trainings)
ο Climate Lab: Sarah Cameron Sunde and 36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea (presented by: New York Historical Society)
ο Sustainability Showcase Series: Guest Lecture by Sarah Cameron Sunde (presented by: Penn State Sustainability Institute)
ο In Conversation: Sarah Cameron Sunde Artist Talk and Presentation (presented by: Bronx River Art Center with PAUSA -PERFORMANCE ART USA)
ο 36.5 / NEW YORK ESTUARY: 9th and final performance at the Cove in Queens NYC, satellite performances in Netherlands, Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, and Aotearoa-New Zealand, and livestream screenings across NYC and beyond (September 14, 2022, 7:27am – 8:06pm (12 hours, 29 minutes)
ο Schwartz Plaza Vitrines: Public Installation of 36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea, on view from September 14 – January 23 (presented by: New York University) 

OCTOBER
ο Premiere screening of 36.5 / New York Estuary durational video artwork (presented onsite at The Cove)
ο Standing with the Sea: Reflections on Sarah Cameron Sunde’s 36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea (presented by: Una Chaudhuri, Dean for Humanities at NYU, recording available here)
ο Symposium: Art at Water’s Edge (presented by: Park Avenue Armory)

36.5 / NEW YORK ESTUARY promo video:

2020
36.5 / Process, New York City, USA
Saturday, September 5, 6:43 AM – 7:09 PM
with Socrates Sculpture Park,
Works on Water, LMCC and NYU

September 5, 2020 became a pivotal moment for the project. We presented a Virtual Event as a first step in kicking off the process at the site in New York City, live-streaming directly from The Cove in Queens for 12 hours and 26 minutes, with collaborators at previous sites around the world tuning in throughout the day. You can view the schedule and write-up about this event here and watch a recording of the livestream here.

This hyper-local engagement grew into a long-term community-powered collective committed to stewardship: Kin to the Cove.