36.5 / A DURATIONAL PERFORMANCE WITH THE SEA: New York Estuary Favorite 

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.