About
May 26 – June 15, 2018
Over three weeks, I produced a series of performance actions that involved my wearing a wetsuit and carrying a bodyboard while walking for extended periods through areas that would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by six feet. I performed at least once in each state and province situated along the east coast from Washington, DC to Halifax, NS; locations included: Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Wilmington, DE; Atlantic City, NJ; Jersey City, NJ; New York, NY; New Haven, CT; Providence, RI; Boston, MA; Hampton, NH; Rockland, ME; Saint John, NB; and Halifax, NS.
While the majority of these were solo durational performance actions, the US portion of this project culminated in Rockland, ME, where Steel House Projects – a local independent gallery and a multidisciplinary art space hosted Provisions for Buoyancy to co-present a social practice workshop, two artist talks, a solo performance action and a group performance action with sites throughout the community including, The Apprenticeshop – an experiential boat building and sailing school and The Island Institute – which works to sustain Maine’s island and coastal communities. The group performance action was created in collaboration with artist, choreographer and co-director of Steel House Projects, Alexis Iammarino and presented by Center for Maine Contemporary Art.
The Provisions for Buoyancy: On The East Coast, performance action series was documented using photo, video and journaling; updates were posted to the updates page of this website and shared regularly:
Research
My primary source for mapping the trajectory of sea level rise in US based locations was The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s, Sea Level Rise Viewer and for Canadian locations, Climate Central’s Surging Seas. In general, I have found that the consensus among scientists studying climate change is that global sea levels will rise by at least 8 inches but not more than 6.6 feet by 2100.
Background & Updates
The Provisions for Buoyancy project started in the summer 2017, during a four-month Artist Residency at VisArts in Rockville, MD. At which time, I began salvaging materials from dumpsters etc. and working with this refuse to create a number of provisions for buoyancy– such as a life jacket, life ring, a poncho, bodyboards, paddle board etc; I then used these as props in an initial series of performance actions that involved my walking for extended periods while carrying or wearing a provision for buoyancy through parts of Washington, D.C. that would be flooded if the sea level rise was to rise by six feet.
I performed two solo performance actions: Performance Action with Life Ring at Jefferson Memorial and Performance Action with Body Board at East Potomac Park and also facilitated a Group Performance Action with Life Vests at The Tidal Basin.
During the residency, I recorded my process in detail HERE
kt@katiekehoe.com www.katiekehoe.com
I’m an artist, working predominantly in performance, interdisciplinary sculpture and drawing though I’ve also often incorporated site-specificity and duration as defining artistic elements.
A commitment to social engagement forms the basis of my creative practice and I value how absurdity can be used as a catalyst for interaction. In light of our climate changing, I have growing uncertainty and deep concerns for what the future holds; this is reflected in my recent work, which explores themes that range from the projected impacts of climate change, to the sustainability of water supplies and the adaptive reuse of waste materials.
