PROJECT STATEMENT & PURPOSE
Project Description
The Port-to-Class Supercommute is a performance modeled after a sporting event. The project will take place over a seven-week period, starting Monday, October 1st and ending Monday, November 12th. For seven consecutive Mondays I will be commuting at 7:00 a.m. from my residence at Berth 75 marina in San Pedro, to Long Beach State University for a 7:00 p.m. class, allowing 12 hours to complete each event. The seven methods of transportation will consist of, in this order: swimming, cycling, rollerblading, paddling, extreme razor scootering, running, and sailing. The commutes will cover a 16 mile land route and a 12.5 mile ocean route.
Although each commute will vary in terms of physical challenge, skill, and danger, I am anticipating the swim to be the most difficult and have arranged for necessary permits, a support boat (The Blackjack), and a medic. The average Los Angeles water temperature for October 1st is 66 degrees Fahrenheit, however on September 15th, the water was 60.6 degrees.
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to address issues of transportation with an anticipation of transportation problems in the future as a result of depleting resources. The infrastructure in most of southern California and the Los Angeles Port vicinity is designed primarily for automobiles, and the Vincent Thomas Bridge, my actual most direct route, allows no bicycle or pedestrian traffic. Consequently, the dominant car culture, as this project will explore, seems to render other conceivably viable modes of urban commute impractical and unsafe. In an attempt to commute across the Port in a variety of alternative methods I hope to raise awareness of this impracticality in a creative and positive way.
This project will culminate in an art exhibition including photographs, route maps, and graphs comparing average bus and car commuting times to my finish times. There will also be a T-shirt and book listing sponsors, as well as media contact and press release. |
