MULTIMEDIA SERIES
invasive
species
2022
Water and how we interact with our oceans, lakes, rivers and streams has become a central theme to my artwork over the last 10 years. I am currently working on a video and performance series in which I create sculptural swimming costumes that reference living creatures such as sea urchins, water birds, cephalopods, and more to create unique hybrid human/animal characters that interact with water in various ways. These characters make reference to a variety of cultural and historical mythologies from around the world having to do with water as the source of life. My goal is to create personal archetypes that highlight our relationship to the water as it sustains us on earth. I am an open water swimmer who swims in the Atlantic Ocean on a daily basis, and one of the things I see when I swim is the high volume of damage we do to our ocean and its inhabitants through pollutants and garbage. As evidenced by our experience with Hurricane Sandy, the human impact on the world’s ocean and climate change is very real and impacts us all on a daily basis.
Saturday, July 12 9 am to noon
Buono Beach is located in front of the Alice Austen House at 2 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10305.
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Performances of Waterfowl at 10:15 and 11:45
Performances are 15-20 minutes long.
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Walk up paddling with Kayak Staten Island from 9-noon. Free, all ages- kayaking only for ages 12 and up. Participants must sign a waiver to enter the water.
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This event is made possible by a Staten Island Arts DCLA Arts Fund Grant with public funding from the New York City Department of Public Affairs as well as The Waterfront Alliance and NY/NJ Harbor & Estuary Program's City of Water Day.
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Special thanks to Kayak Staten Island for partnering on this project and to Alice Austen House for beach access.
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Artist/performer: DB Lampman
Drone operator/camera: Scott Van Campen
Safety crew: Annette Pierce lead kayaker and Kayak Staten Island volunteers
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Waterfowl is a performance art piece that will also eventually have a video component. Waterfowl features a costume made by the artist that is made of a neoprene wetsuit covered in feathers and ropes that are tethered to her body and to five large round buoys that drag behind her. During the performance, the artist interacts in a choreographed dance with a nearby camera drone that is surveilling her movements.
Waterfowl explores the connection between land and sea and the creatures that inhabit both worlds. It also questions how much we as humans have control over our interactions with nature and with each other. The Waterfowl questions how much we are held back by our own fears and how much of our own behavior is reactive or controlled by the systems around us that monitor our movements or tell us who the enemy is.
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